PHILADELPHIA _ The Devils have remained competitive even in games they've lost, and there have been plenty of those lately, in a large part through Taylor Hall's prodigious efforts.
So while the Devils snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 shootout win over the Flyers on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center, the bigger victory felt like escaping a longer-term blow when Hall was able to return to the game after missing most of the second period following Radko Gudas' heavy but clean check.
Oh, and Hall scored on the play, marking his 15th straight game with at least one point and then sent the game to overtime with a second goal at 18:39 of the third period.
Still, the Devils (28-20-8) without No. 1 goalie Cory Schneider (groin/hip) for the ninth straight game and for at least the rest of this week, are in a 4-8-0 slump as they struggle to remain in an Eastern Conference playoff spot. They are still in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and in the first wild-card position.
"We haven't had a group that's been in these situations before," Devils coach John Hynes said. "Look at the games, how intense the games get right now. That's one of the things. It's really a mental game for us now, understanding the focus level and importance of getting ready to play at a certain level every night because every game is a battle.
"Every team in the division is extremely competitive, including us," Hynes said. "We can't live game by game here. We've got to stay with it. Let's just take it game by game and let's not get caught up in the ebbs and flows of you're up two points, you're down two points, you're in the wild card, you're not in the wild card. Let's just keep getting better. We want to be competitive until the end."
Keith Kinkaid stopped 31 shots for the Devils after he had made 44 saves in Saturday night's 6-1 loss at Columbus. NHL journeyman Eddie Lack made 22 saves in Sunday's 5-3 loss to the visiting Bruins in his first start for the team.
Michal Neuvirth made 32 saves for the Flyers (28-19-10), who had won four straight and won two of the first three from the Devils this season. The Flyers, too, have goalie issues with No. 1 Brian Elliott out five to six weeks after core muscle surgery on Tuesday.
Hall exited at 4:06 as he started a combined, six-goal second period with a sharp angle shot from the left that was ruled a goal on the ice and survived a video review to see if the puck completely crossed the line.
But just after shooting, Gudas, who put Kyle Palmieri through concussion protocol and fought Travis Zajac as a result in the Devils' 4-3 win at Prudential Center on Feb. 1, checked Hall into the end boards. Hall's helmet came off as he sat on the ice holding his head being attended to. Finally, Hall went directly to the Devils' room.
The goal did give Hall a season-high eight-game point streak as a three-game injury absence followed a seven-game point streak, with the NHL not recognizing that as a continuous point streak.
Scott Laughton regained the lead for the Flyers at 4:49 and then Gudas put the Flyers ahead 3-1 with a shot from the right point that deflected through traffic at 10:36. John Moore, with a blue-line shot, brought the Devils within 3-2 at 13:17 before the Flyers again took a two-goal lead on Claude Giroux's power-play goal at 15:59.
But, Nico Hischier, getting a pass back from Jesper Bratt on the rush, made it 4-3 just 10 seconds later.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 1:54 of the first period as Travis Konecny, off a rush up the right, beat Kinkaid to the stick side.
