FLYERS HOLD SERVE IN 6-3 WIN IN BUFFALO
The Philadelphia Flyers took care of business in Buffalo on Tuesday night, compiling a 6-3 victory over the Sabres. Unfortunately, the best Philly could do was hold serve in the Eastern Conference wildcard chase.
While the Flyers leapfrogged the Florida Panthers (5-2 losers to the New York Rangers) and Tampa Bay Lightning (idle), they remain three points behind the New York Islanders -- with a tiebreaker disadvantage of 25 regulation/OT win vs. 30 -- for the final playoff spot in the East as well as two points in back of the Toronto Maple Leafs (with a 25 to 38 ROW disadvantage). Both the Islanders and Maple Leafs won on Tuesday night.
All the Flyers can do at this stage is continue to play strong hockey and hope to get periodic help on the out-of-town scoreboard. The Flyers, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games, face a crucial head-to-head showdown with the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Thursday night.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers broke through their season-long frustrations at five-on-five to generate six even strength goals by six different scorers: Matt Read (8th goal of the season), Radko Gudas (4th), Jordan Weal (2nd), Claude Giroux (13th), Chris VandeVelde (6th) and Travis Konecny (8th). The Sabres battled back from a 1-0 deficit in the first period and a 2-1 deficit in the second period before the Flyers pulled away by scoring the next four goals.
Buffalo won the special teams battle in the game, as their potent power play struck twice in four opportunities and their penalty kill (which has struggled most of the season) survived three Flyers power plays. However, the 6-1 discrepancy in even strength output ultimately rendered special teams a non-factor in the outcome.
The last time the Flyers notched six even-strength goals in a game was March 5, 2016 in a 6-0 home win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The last time the Flyers did it in a road match was was back on Dec. 20, 2014 when Philly erupted for seven even-strength goals in a 7-4 win in Toronto.
Steve Mason turned in his fourth straight strong game in goal, stopping 31 of 34 shots. He had little to no chance of stopping any of the goals he yielded. Robin Lehner stopped 24 of 30 Flyers shots.
Evander Kane and Jack Eichel notched power play goals for the Sabres, and Eichel later added a meaningless even strength tally that only meant the difference between a late four-goal and three-goal deficit. The Kane power play tally and Eichel even strength goals were scored through heavy screens in front of Mason. The Eichel power play goal, scored almost directly off a faceoff, was accidentally (and heavily) deflected upstairs off the tilted stick of a shot-block attempting Andrew MacDonald.
The additions of Valtteri Filppula via trade, the post-injury return of Konecny to the Flyers lineup and the recent call-up of Weal from the AHL appears at least in the short term to have bolstered the depth, balance and skill level of the Flyers' forward corps. While none are individually major offensive players in the NHL (the Flyers expect the soon to be 20-year-old Konecny to develop over the next few seasons into such a performer), they collectively have helped bolster the lineup with much-needed skill.
On Tuesday night, Weal had a goal and an assist for his first career multi-point game. Additionally, Gudas (one goal, two assists) recorded his second career three-point game and a career-best plus-five night. Michael Del Zotto was also plus-five. Couturier's two assists represent his fourth multi-point game of the season, and first two-assist output in a game since March 16, 2016 at Chicago.
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FLYERS ALUMNI ADD THREE TO MARCH 18 ROSTER
Alumni Games are first and foremost about nostalgia and fun, while raising money for worthy causes. That does not mean, however, that the two teams are indifferent to winning and losing. Additionally, while tempers usually remain calm in Alumni matches, every once in awhile players can grate on one another (such as the slash exchanges and near fight between the still-feisty Kris Draper and Gary Roberts at the recent Centennial Classic Alumni Game).
Back on January 14, both the Flyers Alumni and Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni had a good time with the 50th Anniversary Game at the Wells Fargo Center. However, during the third period, the Penguins side somewhat went against the spirit of the event by opting to double-shift 30-year-old Tyler Kennedy (who played in the NHL last season) and 37-year-old Ryan Malone (who played in the NHL as recently as 2014-15) while the Flyers continued to give their Alumni of every age group their turns on the ice. Ultimately, the Penguins side rallied to leave the Wells Fargo Center with a tie, largely due to what amounted to ringers on their side.
The two sides will rematch at the Santander Arena in Reading, PA on March 18. The Penguins Alumni have added another recently retired player to the roster in often-controversial 38-year-old forward Matt Cooke (who last played in the NHL in 2014-15). While it is still quite unlikely that there will be any trouble on the ice, the Flyers Alumni have added Dan Carcillo to the roster.
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FLYERS ALUMNI VS. CHECKMATES HOCKEY TO BENEFIT IBD RESEARCH & TREATMENT
Before the Flyers Alumni head to Reading next Saturday, they will play their annual benefit game this Saturday against Checkmates Hockey to benefit the research and treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). This year's game will be held on March 11 at the NE Philadelphia Skate Zone at 5 p.m. with a post-event dinner event at Nick's Roast Beef in Northeast Philly.
For more information on the Checkmates game,
click here. Hall of Fame defenseman Mark Howe is among the confirmed participants on the Flyers Alumni side, along with Brad Marsh, Joe Watson, Bob Kelly and Brian Propp.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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