Carter Hart gets first game action in Flyers preseason overtime loss to the Devils

Four down, two to go.

For the second consecutive night, the Flyers went to overtime. But after winning in a shootout Friday night in Boston, the Flyers fell, 3-2, in overtime vs. the New Jersey Devils in the fourth of the team’s six preseason games.

Here are a few takeaways.

Carter Hart got his first preseason game action Friday night and played the whole time. The Flyers had so far during camp been using multiple goalies in each game, but Hart, the team’s No. 1 goalie, got all 60 minutes.

His teammates at times gave him a tutorial on how to defend odd-man rushes. But he was mostly up to the task. At one point in the first period, Hart was forced to stop a two-man rush solo while the Flyers were shorthanded after a brutal turnover by Bobby Brink.

The Devils beat him to tie the score at 1-1 on one of those odd-man rushes. The Flyers got caught when New Jersey’s Tyce Thompson left the penalty box and was joined on a 2-on-1 by Curtis Lazar. Thompson was patient and waited until late in the rush to feed Lazar in tight, and the puck snuck by Hart.

New Jersey’s second goal came when Alexander Holtz was left uncovered in the slot by Flyers forward Brendan Furry. Holtz got free and beat Hart to give the Devils a 2-1 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds to play in the first period.

Hart was nearly perfect otherwise until Erik Haula beat him with a wrister in overtime. However, he looked regular-season-ready.

“I felt pretty good, shaking off the rust a little bit and that’s what preseason games are for,” Hart said.

Brink, the winger trying to force his way onto the team’s third line, seemingly forced his way into the lineup Saturday night, the second half of a back-to-back, with his offensive effort in Friday’s win vs. the Bruins.

Brink’s line — he played on the left wing with Noah Cates at center and Wade Allison on the right side — did a good job mostly keeping the puck in the New Jersey end. Brink and Allison combined on the Flyers’ first goal when Allison dished to Brink and then cut to the net and finished off a give-and-go.

But Brink, who is at his best on the power play, wasn’t great when the Flyers were up a man. His aforementioned turnover led to a 2-on-0, and he was a bit sloppy with the puck on other occasions.

Still, he finished the game with four shot attempts in 16 minutes and most of his time was spent in the attacking zone.

“I thought he had a good first period,” Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson said. “He made a great play on our first goal. I thought faded a bit in the second, and then I thought he played quite well in the third period. So he kind of came back and fought through it.

“He’s fighting for a spot, without a doubt. He’s answering some tough questions right now and is going to make our decision hard. That’s what you want.”

» READ MORE: Bobby Brink ‘has momentum going’ in fight to make Flyers out of training camp

Saturday night was a long time coming for Cam Atkinson — 537 days to be exact, the last time Atkinson skated in NHL action. This wasn’t the real thing, of course, but Atkinson, who missed all of last season with a neck injury, was using this preseason to shake some rust off as he readies for the regular season.

Atkinson was supposed to play in the preseason opener Monday but was a late scratch due to lower-body soreness.

Atkinson played about 20 minutes Saturday night and wasn’t shy about shooting the puck. He also got physical a few times, having noted earlier in camp that he was excited to get his first real contact out of the way after not playing for so long.

“I was trying to throw my body around a little bit and trying to take a hit,” Atkinson said. “I feel comfortable out there, and the more games I play the more comfortable I’m going to get.”

Atkinson, who said he expects to play in the team’s next preseason game on Monday, started the game on a line with Tanner Laczynski and Matt Brown but was moved to the top line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny in the third period.

Brink wasn’t the only player on the roster bubble in action Saturday night.

The lineup also featured the defensive pairing of Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning, who were the top pairing in Lehigh Valley last season. They seem ticketed for the same fate this season. That’s not necessarily a knock on how they’re playing. They’ve just not done enough to unseat the players ahead of them on the depth chart.

Emil Andrae, the 21-year-old defensive prospect was also in the lineup and at times showed why the Flyers are high on him, moving the puck up the ice and passing with confidence. He was active in the offensive zone, sending 10 shots toward the New Jersey net.

Up front, Laczynski continued his solid play during the preseason by again being a driver in the offensive zone.

The Flyers have the day off on Sunday. They return to the ice Monday for their penultimate preseason game at home vs. the Bruins (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia) before finishing their preseason schedule on Thursday at home vs. the Islanders (7 p.m., NBCSP).