VOORHEES, N.J. — As the Flyers meet the Devils again, they have a decent blueprint on the table.
They just stymied New Jersey nine days ago in a 3-1 win at the Prudential Center. Samuel Ersson made 12 saves as the Flyers gave up only 13 shots, the fewest in John Tortorella's time here as the head coach.
Should his team rewatch the tape before Monday's rematch at the Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP)?
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"I don't need to look back at the film," Tortorella said. "We have to defend."
The Devils endured a lean decade before drafting and developing a team that is now starting to feel like a contender again. Danny Briere highlighted New Jersey's patience and plan in May 2023 when he was named the Flyers' full-time general manager.
Tortorella pointed it out, too, after a blowout loss to the Devils in February 2023.
"This is a team that went through some growing pains as far as being a bad team, put their assets together and now they're growing," he said Monday before morning skate. "They're a legitimate top team in this league and they're balanced through their lineup."
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The Flyers have lost momentum from their season-best six-game point streak with consecutive losses by a combined score of 9-2. They've allowed some odd-man rushes because of misreads and breakdowns.
"I think the biggest point of emphasis for me going into tonight's game is just our third man," Tortorella said. "I think that has been inconsistent and we just can't play that way. Our third man not only helps us defensively, it helps us so we can play on our toes, so we can get our transition game going. That's the part of the game that I think we need to be more consistent at, especially against a team like this."
Up front, New Jersey is led by 2019 first overall pick Jack Hughes, 2024 All-Star Jesper Bratt and 2017 first overall pick Nico Hischier. The Flyers won't see Hischier tonight because of the center's undisclosed injury. Nine days ago, the Flyers held that trio scoreless.
"I think we took away the middle, their middle speed," Scott Laughton said. "They've got some top-end speed with Hughes and Bratt and guys like that, who like to kind of wind it up. I thought we did a good job in the neutral zone, we blocked a ton of shots in our zone. They have some defensemen that can really rip the puck. Ers played a great game.
"We're going to need that again. We have a lot of division games coming up at a key time here before the break (4 Nations Face-Off) and kind of need to get rolling here."
The Flyers enter this week at 22-22-6 and are trying to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot. They want to play meaningful games down the stretch.
"We have to be dead-on," Tortorella said. "We have to push as hard as we can to stay competitive. We don't have game-breakers. We have to play under a system and we have to push."
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