Brothers Luke, Jack Hughes score as Devils shut out Flyers

Brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each collected a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils scored four times in the second period and rolled to a 5-0 rout of the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.

The Devils won for the third time in four games and for a second straight game withstood the absence of captain Nico Hischier due to an upper-body injury. Hischier is week-to-week and is expected to miss at least two more games.

Ondrej Palat started the big period with a power-play goal 54 seconds in and Luke Hughes scored unassisted 6:27 into the period. Nathan Bastian scored a power-play goal with 7:19 remaining and Dawson Mercer added a tally 62 seconds later.

Jack Hughes reached 20 goals for the fourth time in his career when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Jesper Bratt 1:58 into the third.

Timo Meier, Brett Pesce and Bratt contributed two assists apiece for the Devils, who lost the first two meetings this season to the Flyers.

Jake Allen made 24 saves for his third shutout this season and 27th for his career. Allen highlighted his outing by denying Tyson Foerster on a breakaway late in the first period after stopping Sean Couturier twice in the opening minutes.

Philadelphia's Samuel Ersson allowed four goals on 16 shots before getting pulled following Mercer's goal. Ivan Fedotov spelled Ersson and made nine saves on 10 shots.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Devils capitalized on the Flyers' miscues and poor defensive coverage to open a four-goal lead after the second when the teams combined for 26 penalty minutes.

After Jack Hughes dug the puck out of the right corner, he moved to the left circle and regained possession following three passes. He sent the puck through the circle around defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to Palat in front and the shot banked off Philadelphia defenseman Nick Seeler's left skate before bouncing into the net.

Luke Hughes finished off a 2-on-1 with his brother with 13:33 remaining when he intercepted a pass by Travis Sanheim in the defensive zone. He sped into the offensive zone, faked a shot to his brother in the slot and lifted a shot over Ersson's stick for his first goal in 15 games.

With 7:19 left, Bastian withstood contact and reached for a loose puck after Palat's shot banked off Seeler and Ristolainen in the crease. The Devils opened a 4-0 lead when Mercer one-timed a cross-ice pass from Meier over Ersson's glove.

--Field Level Media