It sure looks like the New Jersey Devils are playing (bad wording) harder. Or at least meaner.
A night after management questioned their work ethic, the Devils stormed out of the gate against the Philadelphia Flyers, building a 2-0 lead through the first period of Thursday’s game.
Maybe just as importantly, they responded to a hit that shook up Sergey Kalinin with plenty of passion directed at Brandon Manning and the rest of the Flyers.
You can see the scene in the video above and some of the other stuff in GIF form here:
As the Record’s Andrew Gross notes, the Devils and Flyers combined for 46 penalty minutes in the first period alone.
Update: Yes, it was quite the response from the Devils. They ultimately beat Philly 4-0 on Thursday.