NEWARK, N.J. _ The Devils got the strong start they wanted. More importantly, they got the strong finish they needed.
The Flyers, with rookie goalie Alex Lyon making his first NHL start, twice fought back from one-goal deficits in the first period.
But the Devils scored twice in third period to earn a hard-fought, 4-3, win on Thursday night at Prudential Center.
No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier, with his first goal in 11 games, redirected Blake Coleman's centering feed to the crease for the winner at 18:33 of the third period.
The second straight win for the Devils (26-16-8) vaulted them into second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Penguins and five points behind the first-place Capitals.
The Flyers (24-19-8), playing on back-to-back nights, lost their third straight as Lyon made 18 saves.
The Flyers had won 5-3 at The Rock on Jan. 13 and then beat the Devils 3-1 at Philadelphia seven days later.
The teams' final game this season will be Feb. 13 at Philadelphia and the Flyers still have not swept a season series from the Devils since 1983-84.
Keith Kinkaid, making his second straight start after coming back from a groin injury suffered at Philadelphia, made 23 saves. That included three crucial ones in the third period after the Devils' tied the game at 3, first on Scott Laughton's backhander on a two-on-one rush, then on Brandon Manning's slap shot from the slot and finally on Michael Raffl's chance at the crease at 16:08.
The Devils took the first seven shots of the third period, finally tying the game as Pavel Zacha, from behind the crease, set up Damon Severson for a close-range snap shot at 11:00.
Lyon, 25, an undrafted free agent out of Yale, had stopped all five shots he faced in the third period of the Flyers' 5-3 loss at Washington on Wednesday night in relief of Michal Neuvirth.
The feisty first period featured two fights, 36 penalty minutes and a 2-2 tie.
The Devils were looking to test both Lyon and the Flyers' legs on the second night of a back-to-back-set early and Kyle Palmieri, who turned 27 on Thursday, made it 1-0 with a power-play shot from the right circle at 3:42 of the first period as the Devils capitalized on their early pressure.
But Claude Giroux, open at the left post on a Flyers' five-on-three power play, tied it at 1 at 6:47.
The first fight came at 12:47 as Severson fought Manning in the aftermath of Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas leaving his skates to deliver a shoulder hit on Palmieri.
It was a hit the NHL will certainly review with the likelihood Gudas hears from the league's Player Safety Department on Friday.
Drew Stafford tipped John Moore's shot for a power-play goal to make it 2-1 at 13:49 and Travis Zajac, channeling a furious anger, took on Gudas at 14:48, continuing to punch the Flyers' bad boy even after Gudas landed on his back. But Zajac received an extra two-minute roughing minor and Wayne Simmonds tied the game at the crease with a power-play goal at 15:46.
In comparison, the second period featured just one minor penalty _ Travis Konecny's trip on Andy Greene at 15:46 leading to a disjoined Devils' power play _ but the Flyers began winning more and more puck battles and the physical play.
Shayne Gostisbehere, with a shot that hit Kinkaid's right side, deflected off the near post and trickled over the line as the goalie did not slide smoothly to his right, gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 7:01 of the second period.
