Miles Wood scored twice, Keith Kinkaid stopped 35 shots and the New Jersey Devils beat the slumping Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Saturday night.
Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha also scored and Michael Cammalleri had two assists for the Devils, who have won four of five.
Travis Konecny had a goal for Philadelphia, which has lost 12 of 15 since ending a 10-game winning streak in December. The Flyers played for the first time since a 5-0 loss at Washington on Sunday following their NHL-mandated bye week.
Kinkaid played his second game in two days in place of ill starter Cory Schneider.
Palmieri scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 4:09 left in the second period that put the Devils ahead 2-1. Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas was called for the initial penalty for clipping Wood, drawing loud boos from Philadelphia fans and protests from the Flyers. Wayne Simmonds argued vehemently with the referee, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give the Devils a two-man advantage.
Palmieri made them pay with his 11th goal of the season, a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Michal Neuvirth.
The Devils took a two-goal lead with 47.1 seconds left in the period when Wood blew by the Flyers defense, got in all alone on Neuvirth and snapped a quick wrist shot past the goalie's blocker side.
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Flyers coach Dave Hakstol lifted Neuvirth after the second period, marking the third goalie change in four games for Philadelphia. Neuvirth made 22 saves.
Steve Mason allowed a goal on the second shot he faced when Wood notched his second of the contest. It was the rookie's first two-goal game of his career. After Philadelphia's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was called for tripping, Wood scored the Devils' second power-play goal in seven tries when he tapped in a cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall into an empty net from the right of the crease.
New Jersey got on the board first on Zacha's backhander high over Neuvirth's glove from right in front with 12:49 left in the first period.
Konecny poked home a rebound 3 ½ minutes later to tie it at 1.
The game was physical, which is typical for the rivals. After combining for two fights, three game misconducts and 82 penalty minutes in the first meeting of the season, New Jersey's 4-0 win on Dec. 22, Saturday's contest featured plenty of rough play.
Wood didn't get off a punch in a fight with Simmonds late in the first period after the Devils forward delivered a crushing check to Gudas. The Devils took umbrage to checks by Gudas and Konecny in the second period, the latter of which didn't draw a penalty.
NOTES: New Jersey's Travis Zajac played under Hakstol at the University of North Dakota from 2004-06. ... Devils C Vernon Fiddler returned to the lineup after missing 12 straight games due to a lower-body injury. ... New Jersey, which lost 3-1 to Montreal on Friday night, improved to 6-2-3 in the second game of a back-to-back set. ... The teams next play the third contest of their five-game season series on March 16 at New Jersey.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Flyers: At Islanders on Sunday night.
