Instant Replay: Devils 3, Flyers 0

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Neither Lauren Hart nor Kate Smith could save them.

Looking for some Flyers-style magic of the past, the club dusted off “God Bless America” before Thursday’s game against the Devils.

Well, it didn’t prevent New Jersey from scoring less than two minutes into the game when Adam Henrique deflected Martin Gelinas’ point shot straight under the cross bar.

The Devils got their due with a 3-0 victory at Wells Fargo Center.

Nearly the entire game was an exercise in futility with both teams skating in slow motion much of the night.

As good as the Flyers looked against the Devils in their last meeting, they looked awful in this one. They couldn’t get a forecheck going because New Jersey beat them to every puck that goalie Marty Brodeur didn’t get.

On the power play, the Flyers could not get a setup going at all. One power play saw the Devils’ PK units clear the zone five times.

That’s the kind of frustrating night it was as the Flyers saw yet another opportunity to stockpile some points against a weak opponent, much like themselves, slip by.

The Devils made that lead last, too. Then early in the third period, Cam Janssen had a brilliant check on Andrej Meszaros going into the back boards, taking the puck right off him.

Janseen then swung around, headed to the net and deflected Adam Larsson’s shot past Ray Emery to make it 2-0.

That’s when the Devils went into lockdown mode. It was over.

Scoring chances
The Flyers blew two two-on-ones in the first two periods. First, Zac Rinaldo took a shot from the right circle that was so far off the mark, it was headed for the Jack Daniels sign in the corner. In the second period, Claude Giroux had a two-on-one and was easily checked off the puck by Devils’ defenseman Anton Volchenkov.

Goals
The Flyers came into the game dead last in goals with 22. New Jersey was second-worst at 26.

Drought ends
New Jersey’s scoring drought ended in the first period with a shot deflection by Henrique. The Devils' goalless streak was 151 minutes, 3 seconds.

Frustration
With 5:30 left in the second period, Wayne Simmonds went to the bench amid fans booing the lack of any offensive attack just as Simmonds slammed his stick on the boards. Those boos returned in force in the final minutes of the game, as well.

Special teams
The Flyers' power play, which has been brutal all season, continued to look that way. There were busted breakouts, no setups, few chances and no quality shots. There were, however, continuous clears by the Devils’ penalty killers. They were 0 for 3 and didn’t have a single good shot on Brodeur. They only had two shots overall with the man advantage.

Honored
The Flyers celebrated Military Appreciation Night with representatives from the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, who also escorted anthem Hart onto the ice. Attending was WWII veteran John Fallon from Avalon, N.J., who will receive France’s “Legion of Honor” award on Friday.

Scratches
Defensemen Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson; forward Jay Rosehill.

Loose pucks
The Flyers unveiled their new “green room” for media to use prior to the game. It has everything but a picture of Johnny Carson. … The Flyers kept dumping pucks too close to where Brodeur could play them. … After two periods, there were just 30 shots in the game. … This was the Flyers' 15th game of the season. Including this game, 14 times this season the differential was either one goal up for the Flyers or one goal down entering the third period. That’s how defensively tight it’s been and how offensively-challenged this club has become.

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