Cam Atkinson produced three goals and an assist to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers past the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Tuesday.
The four-point game tied Atkinson’s career high, and the hat trick was the seventh of his career.
Travis Sanheim and Oskar Lindblom each added one goal and one assist for the Flyers, who won their third in a row following a 10-game losing streak.
Justin Braun also scored while Rasmus Ristolainen and Ivan Provorov contributed two assists apiece for Philadelphia. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 26 saves.
P.K. Subban scored the lone goal for the Devils.
Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled to begin the third period after allowing five goals on 22 shots. Blackwood was replaced by Akira Schmid, who stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in his second career NHL game.
The Flyers went ahead 1-0 at 9:14 of the first period when Sanheim recorded his first goal of the season. Sanheim was able to slide the puck just under Blackwood’s pads.
Philadelphia took a 2-0 advantage at 18:35 of the first as Atkinson received a pass and sent a backhand into a virtually empty net.
The Devils managed only six shots in the opening period, three by Dougie Hamilton.
Atkinson was whistled for tripping Pavel Zacha at 1:11 of the second. The Devils had several strong scoring opportunities on the power play, including two by Zacha, but were unable to score.
The Flyers moved out to a 3-0 lead at 6:07 thanks to Braun’s second goal of the season.
New Jersey closed within 3-1 just 36 seconds later when Subban connected.
Atkinson’s second goal came short-handed at 16:16 of the second. He skated in from center ice and fired a slap shot from the point for a 4-1 lead.
The Flyers added another at 18:20 when Lindblom scored his second of the campaign from point-blank range.
Atkinson registered the hat trick at 7:09 of the third for a 6-1 advantage, with Max Willman earning his first career assist in his 11th game. Atkinson has 12 goals on the season, including five in his past six games.
–Field Level Media
