Defenseman Zamula solid in his NHL debut

The Flyers broke out their latest puzzle piece Tuesday.

That would be Egor Zamula, whose English needs work but who has enough game and length to help them on the back end.

The 6-foot-3 rookie defenseman by way of Russia played 19 mostly decent shifts covering almost 20 minutes Tuesday in a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.

“It’s a little bit different level from the AHL but I try working hard every shift and try to play faster, but it’s a first game,” Zamula said. “I’m working hard in practice to be ready to play the next game at the best level. It’s a different level. I need to be ready to play here.”

Zamula is the fifth player to make his NHL debut this season for the Flyers. Of the group, Zamula, Wade Allison and Jackson Cates were on the ice against the Devils.

Zamula, 21, skated without the endorsement of Flyers coach Alain Vigneault, who passed after evaluating him at training camp. The Flyers signed the undrafted Zamula three years ago.

“A, he wasn’t ready at that time and B, I don’t know if he’s ready,” is the way Vigneault phrased it pre-game. “We’re going to get an opportunity to see what he can do. We feel that he’s got potential. We feel he’s got upside. Is he going to be able to put it all together? We’re going to get a good look tonight.”

Post-game, Vigneault sounded impressed.

“I think everybody can see the potential and the upside,” Vigneault said. “He’s got to work, and we’ve got to work with him to help him become the best player that he can be. It was the first game, the first step. He’ll remember it. Hopefully next time as a team with him we’ll be better.”

Zamula teamed with Travis Sanheim on defense.

Zamula produced two shots in eight shifts totaling 4:59 in first period. By the end of the game, he had three shots, one blocked shot and one takeaway.

• • • The Flyers dug themselves out of a 3-0 hole, only to fade down the homestretch.

Phil Myers ended a 41game goalless drought with a tracer past MacKenzie Blackwood, getting the Flyers within a goal early in the final frame.

Sixty seconds later, at 16:26, Claude Giroux knotted the score at 3 putting the puck beneath the pads of Blackwood.

With 7:35 remaining, Sean Couturier matched the goal of Claude Carrick, who got his first of the season, deadlocking the game again.

But 11 seconds later, Elliott got caught stickhandling behind the net and Yegor Sharangovich made him pay, giving the Devils a 5-4 advantage.

The Flyers scored three of the five goals in the third period.

“It’s not fun,” Couturier said. “We need to be better, we need to be more ready from the start of the game and be tougher to play for a full game. We can’t be on and off. When we’re on we’re one of the best teams. But we’ve got to be more consistent.”

With Blackwood down, his mask off, defenseman

Matt Tennyson made a stick save on Couturier with a shade under two minutes remaining.

Mikhail Maltsev added an empty net goal as the Devils ended a 10-game winless streak.

It was just the third time the Devils (15-27-7) scored as many as six goals in a game this season.

It was the ninth time this season the Flyers (22-207) have allowed six or more goals in a game.

The Flyers’ swoon is taking a lot out of Vigneault.

“There’s no doubt it’s challenging,” Vigneault said. “But our guys have never quit. They didn’t quit tonight, either. They battled back hard in the third, twice. We keep pushing, we keep trying and that’s what you want from your players.”

• • •

With Nolan Patrick in the penalty box for holding, Nico Hischier scored his fifth goal with 75 seconds left in the first period to stake the Devils to a 1-0 lead.

It was just their second goal in the last 26 power play situations.

The Devils made it three goals in 27 power plays in the second period, Sanheim off the ice for taking a run at Michael McLeod, who checked Couturier hard to the ice. • • • NOTES >> Cates registered his first NHL point, Oskar Lindblom depositing the rebound of his shot into the net to get the Flyers within 3-1 in the second period … The opposition has scored first against the Flyers in eight straight games this season. The Flyers are 10-15-4 this season when the opposition scores first, 125-3 when they score first.