Flyers 3, Devils 2: Turnovers prove costly

The Devils dropped a precious point vs. their division rival due to turnovers in their zone.

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By Neil Villapiano (@TheNVPShow)

A few notes following New Jersey’s overtime loss to Philadelphia:

A major captain milestone

The big news going into this game was that Devils’ captain Nico Hischier skated in his 400th career game. It feels like only yesterday that the kid from Switzerland was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2017.

Fast forward six years and Hischier has become not just the captain of New Jersey, but one of the best two-way forwards in the game. Despite the loss, he celebrated the special occasion with the primary assist on Jesper Bratt’s 2nd period power-play goal.

This also comes off Hischier reaching another major milestone in the 6-3 win on Saturday vs the Columbus Blue Jackets. He produced his 300th career point in that one.

In the span of 400 games played, the 24-year-old centerman has tallied 116 goals and 185 points for 301 career points.

It’ll be exciting to see what other milestones he will achieve before his career is done.

Jack Hughes is doing too much

Despite adding an assist on the Jesper Bratt power-play goal, Jack Hughes had arguably one of his worst performances of the season.

This was certainly evident in two plays that ultimately cost New Jersey goals and the game. On Ryan Poehling’s first goal, which tied the game at one, Hughes was near the boards on the right side in his own zone. Instead of carrying the puck out, he turned it over in the middle of the slot. Seconds later, Poehling cashed in on a one-timer to tie the game.

Fast forward to late in overtime and Hughes, trying to do it all by himself, turned over the puck deep in the defensive zone. Owen Tippett pounced on the puck and rifled the turnover past the far side of Vitek Vanecek to win the game and steal the extra point on the road.

While it may be unfair to completely blame Hughes for the loss, Hughes trying to do too much ultimately played a major role in the Devils coming up short.

McLeod the perfect bottom-6 player