BOX SCORE
NEWARK, N.J. -- It was the Flyers' version of "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
It began with Steve Mason in a cameo role at the start and ended with Edison, N.J. native Anthony Stolarz, as the local attraction stuck in a contest reminiscent more of the Broad Street Bullies era.
The Flyers were ambushed 4-0 at Prudential Center as the Devils reacted to their general manager, Ray Shero, calling them out as cowards for their timid reaction to seven straight losses.
Hence, a game in which there were 23 penalties for 82 minutes, plus three fights and a dozen skirmishes.
"They played hard and I guess they answered their GM's call," Wayne Simmonds said. "Probably the worst game we played all year. No excuses. We got to make sure we're better and come back after the Christmas break playing better than that."
It was the Flyers' 36th game in 69 days. They looked drained.
"We didn't pay too much attention to what somebody else has to say, but we didn't have a whole lot of energy tonight," Hakstol said. "We couldn't get engaged. That hasn't happened too often. This group has been a bunch of warriors. We just didn't have the energy tonight."
So little energy that they managed a season-low 16 shots on net.
"This is a hard one to sit on but you have to flush it out pretty quick," Hakstol said. "This group has played hard, fricking hard over the last 69 or 70 days."
A high-stick at seven minutes allowed the Devils to score 40 seconds later. Then came a hooking call less than a full minute after the first penalty.
The Flyers' rising penalty-kill units – ninth-ranked in the league – had killed off 16 straight power plays over the previous six games.
Mason was beaten in this one when Mike Cammalleri's shot from the right circle was redirected by P.A. Parenteau in the paint.
Six minutes later, the Devils had a mad scramble in the Flyers' crease and Miles Wood lifted it off Mason's right leg for a 2-0 lead.
Stolarz relieved Mason in the second period because Mason was "nicked up," according to Flyers GM Ron Hextall. Per a source, Mason was dealing with minor back issues.
"He got nicked up in the first and that's why he came out," Hextall said. "I don't suspect any more will come of it."
Said Mason, "It was something bothering me but I'm not too concerned about," adding he took no contact.
Seconds after the faceoff, there was major scrum near center ice involving four players with each team losing two players to roughing calls. That wasn't the end of it. Three fights (only two received fight majors) came soon after as the first period took nearly an hour to complete.
"It was a tough back-to-back with an 8 o'clock start and we didn't get in [here] till late last night, and we got to find energy and didn't find anything," Mason said. "They felt it was wise to rest up and go into the break."
With Stolarz in net for the second period, Michael Raffl, who scored against Washington with help from video review, had two shots on Cory Schneider on a similar play. However, this time video review concurred with the "no goal" call on the ice.
Raffl left the game after two periods with a lower-body injury and will be out one to two weeks. According to a source, the injury is a sprained knee.
That non-goal gave the Devils more momentum and they capitalized again late in the period with a sizzling pass from behind the net by Taylor Hall (first point in six games) to Adam Henrique, who buried it before Stolarz even knew what happened.
Even a three-goal deficit isn't insurmountable for the Flyers, yet this felt like 5-0.
"With five, six, seven minutes to go, the game was within reach, absolutely," Hakstol said. "If we get one somewhere and make it a two-goal game in the first 10-plus minutes of the third period, and we'd have a ballgame. We had energy, got a little rattled. … We never got rolling."
The Flyers have to sit on this for four days over the break.
"It sucks," Simmonds said. "It's Christmas time, everyone has family around them. I won't say this is easy to forget because it's not going to be easy to forget.
"It's going to burn a little bit. We've played some good hockey. This isn't the way we've played. You learn from the negatives and move on."
