Kevin Labanc Registers Hat Trick as New Jersey Devils Fall 5-4 to Philadelphia Flyers In Preseason Finale

The preseason is finally over, though Kevin Labanc might wish it wasn’t

First Period

The first good look of the game for New Jersey came about two minutes in on a one-timer in tight from Mike Hardman that Ivan Fedotov turned aside with the pad. About a minute later Samuel Laberge dropped the gloves with Sawyer Boulton. It was a fight that lasted about three seconds before both players tumbled to the ice and the officials broke it up.

Exactly four minutes into the game, Olle Lycksell drove to the net and scooped up a rebound that Isaac Poulter failed to cover up. Lycksell wrapped the puck around Poulter and in for an early 1-0 lead for the Flyers.

About two minutes later, Hardman led an odd-man rush and choose to keep the puck himself. Hardman wired a shot up over the net though, and the Flyers cleared the zone shortly thereafter.

Following that missed opportunity, we had our second tilt of the night. Nathan Legare matched up with Hunter McDonald in another quick fight before both players hit the deck and the officials escorted them to their respective penalty boxes. For a preseason game, this one had some serious animosity early on.

With 11:33 left, a net-mouth scramble in front of the Flyers net ended with the puck trickling into the goal, but the refs waved it off as the puck was apparently frozen by Fedotov long enough to warrant a stoppage. New Jersey missed the equalizer by that much.

With 9:25 left, Mikael Diotte led a 3-on-2 into the Flyers’ zone, and he slid a pass across to Ryan Schmelzer who banged a one-timer past Fedotov to knot the score at 1!

About a minute later the Devils were looking for more. Schmelzer led a 2-on-1 into the zone and backhanded a gorgeous pass across to Kevin Labanc, but Labanc sailed the shot over the net.

Then almost immediately following this missed chance, Brian Halonen got called for a holding penalty to send the Devils penalty kill out for the first time of the night. The Flyers had a good look or two, but the PK held it’s own and did not concede a goal.

With a little more than three minutes to go, the Flyers sustained some pressure in the Devils’ zone. Some nifty passing led to a solid chance from the slot, but Poulter sprawled to make the stop and keep the game tied.

The last few minutes of the period ticked away, and the Devils escaped to the locker room with a 1-1 tie. I say escaped because it was a period thoroughly controlled by the Flyers, who outshot New Jersey 12-4 in the opening frame.

Second Period

On the very first shift of the period, Daniil Misyul got tagged for a delay of game penalty for New Jersey’s second PK of the evening. About a minute into the power play, Garnet Hathaway slipped behind the defense for a breakaway, but Poulter stood tall for the glove save. But the Flyers came right back and scored about 20 seconds after that. JR Avon beat Poulter for a power play goal, sending the Devils to their second one-goal deficit of the night.

Shortly after the penalty, Justin Dowling corralled a turnover in the defensive zone and skated all the way up the ice on a partial breakaway, but Fedotov made the stop.

Then Boulton and Laberge fought again. Seriously, it was their second fight of the night, because clearly they had a lot of unfinished business from the first scrap. It’s preseason, fellas. But Boulton actually got hit with a 10-minute misconduct and an instigating minor for his troubles, so the Devils got a power play out of it, their first of the game. The Devils could not make Philadelphia pay though, as they failed to score on the man advantage.

With 10:58 left, an interference penalty by Philadelphia’s Garrett Wilson sent New Jersey to their second power play of the evening. The Devils sustained some decent zone time but never really threatened the high-danger part of the ice, and they went another man advantage without finding the back of the net.

But in the seconds immediately following the power play, Hardman blasted a one-timer past Aleksei Kolosov, who replaced Fedotov in net, to tie the game at 2-2…but after a review it was determined the Devils entered the zone offsides. So the goal was wiped off the board and Philadelphia got to keep their 2-1 edge. That was a shame because it wiped away a truly impressive pass from Cam Squires:

Pretty stuff!

Late in the period, with 1:24 remaining to be exact, the Devils finally broke through with a tying goal that counted. Labanc took a drop pass and curled in front of the blue line, and wristed a seeing-eye shot through a mass of bodies in front and into the net to even the game at 2-all.

But it was about as short-lived a lead as you could get. Philadelphia scored all of 16 seconds later. It was Emil Andrae with the quick response, and for the third time in the game, the Flyers had a one-goal advantage.

The period ended shortly thereafter. It was a better period for New Jersey but the late response goal allowed to Andrae took a lot of air out of their sails heading into the final period. Shots were 22-14 in favor of Philadelphia entering the third.

Third Period

The period started somewhat slow, then with 16:28 left, Legare got called for a penalty. 26 seconds into the man advantage, Anthony Richard rifled a one-timer home to give the Flyers a multi-goal lead for the first time all night long. 4-2.

With 10:25 left, Avon was called for a holding penalty, setting up another New Jersey power play. Then 1:07 into the PP, the Flyers’ Erik Johnson was called for a roughing penalty, giving the Devils 53 seconds of 5-on-3 time. In the waning seconds of the two-man advantage, Labanc scored his second of the game! Dowling slipped a pass to Labanc in the slot, who blasted a one-timer off the far post and in to cut the deficit to 4-3.

With one penalty coming off the board, the Devils still had an abbreviated man-advantage. They couldn’t capitalize though, as the Flyers killed the rest of it off.

With about two minutes left, New Jersey was tagged for a Too Many Men On The Ice penalty, and the game was salted away when Noah Cates registered a goal on the ensuing power play to make it 5-3, Flyers…

…but not so fast! With about 10 seconds remaining, Labanc found the back of the net AGAIN for a hat trick to pull New Jersey to within 5-4.

But that was as close as the Devils would get. Philadelphia managed to hold on and win by that same score. It was a valiant effort, but New Jersey never held a lead tonight and fell in their preseason finale.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com

One Last Push For Labanc

How about a hat trick for Kevin Labanc tonight! Good for him. Labanc has made a late charge for an NHL contract ever since the main group went over to Prague. I don’t think it will be enough for him to get a deal with the Devils, but good on Labanc for making it count in the final few games. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Labanc elsewhere in the NHL this season.

It’s Over

As soon as the final horn sounded tonight, the preseason finally came to an end. It wasn’t an undefeated exhibition slate this time thank goodness, and in fact it was a pretty lousy preseason as far as results go.

But the end is here, and now the games count. We have made it through an NHL postseason the Devils were not invited to in the spring, a summer offseason, and now a fall preseason. At long last, it’s time for some real hockey.

Let us all hope it goes better than last season.

Next Time Out

The regular season begins! The real New Jersey Devils battle old friend Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres in the Global Series to kick off the 2024-25 campaign tomorrow. Puck drop from Prague is slated for 1pm ET.

Your Take

What did you make of tonight’s preseason finale? Do you think Labanc deserves a contract? Of the young players we saw tonight, who would you be interested in seeing at the NHL level this season? As always, thanks for reading!