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Wrap: Flyers Top Sabres, 4-1 |
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WRAP: FLYERS TOP SABRES, 4-1
Playing for the third time in four days and the fourth in six, the Philadelphia Flyers got better as the game went along and skated to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon. The game was not an easy one for the Flyers, however.
The Flyers took a pair of early penalties that they barely survived against an anemic Buffalo power play that came into the game with just 15 power play goals against eight opposing shorthanded goals on the season. Philly struggled for energy in a sleepy opening stanza but at least went on to limit the quality of the five-on-five chances for the Sabres.
In the second period, Buffalo struck for a leaky power play goal just 1:50 into the period. Then Philly got a game-changing shift by Shayne Gostisbehere -- using a quick defensive stick to break up a rush in the neutral zone and then joining the play in the offensive zone to score.
From there, the Flyers established firmer and firmer control. Philly dominated the rest of the second period and took a 2-1 lead to the second intermission. The third period was more of a grind but there were few good chances for the Sabres as the Flyers closed it out. Two late empty-net goals by Philly sealed a three-goal margin of victory.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux said that he thinks the western Canada road trip in which the team went 3-0-0 was the start of a positive turnaround in the way the team approached and executed closing out games they've led after two periods. Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol agreed with that assessment.
“I think as a team as you grow and really start to sort out roles, that’s part of it. I think if you take a look at the devotement of the groups of guys that are on the ice, the different combinations. There are several different combinations we use on a night to night basis. But, also just being sound in how we want to go about doing that. There’s really only one way to do that and that’s to go through some of the experience. We’ve had that experience and we’ve been able to be pretty successful there closing out the games," Hakstol said.
With the win, the Flyers finished their four-game homestand at 3-1-0 and head into a five-night bye week. The team, which is 7-2-0 in its last nine home games, will resume practice late Friday afternoon in Voorhees.
"Since I have been on the Flyers going into these breaks we haven’t really played good the last game. For our team we made it a staple that we are going to have a good one and go into break on a positive note," Gostisbehere said.
Gostisbehere (9th goal of the season), Sean Couturier (power play and empty goals, 22nd and 23rd) and Ivan Provorov (empty net, 8th) scored for the Flyers. Scott Laughton (6th assist of the season), Jori Lehterä (3rd assist), Giroux (38th assist), Jakub Voracek (42nd and 43rd assists), Michael Raffl (6th assist), Wayne Simmonds (12th assist) and Andrew MacDonald (4th assist) collected the apples.
In addition to his huge goal, Gostisbehere used a quick defensive stick -- something he's been doing with regularity this season -- to great effectiveness.
Travis Konecny did not get on the scoresheet on this game but was in the thick of setting up multiple scoring chances that turned into near-misses at the net. He was also getting under the Sabres' skin repeatedly.
Making his first start since the end of November, Michal Neuvirth was strong in goal as he stopped 30 of 31 shots, including making a spectacular first-period glove save on Sam Reinhart among 12 stops to get the game to the first intermission still scoreless. He let in a bad short-side power play goal early in the second period but settled right back in and came up big when he had to.
"It’s a huge win for me. I haven’t been feeling good about myself lately. It’s frustrating when you get injured. I can’t help the teammates. I feel good about myself right now. Kind of a shame that we won three in a row and leaving for the break but it’s the schedule," Neuvirth said.
Ryan O'Reilly (power play, 10th goal of the season) notched the lone Sabres goal on a short-side one-timer. Jack Eichel (21st assist and Rasmus Ristolainen (13th assist) got the helpers. Robin Lehner played a strong game in net in a losing cause -- a common storyline for the Sabres -- and stopped 25 of 27 shots. He stayed in the game in the third period after taking a scorching one-timer from Robert Hägg off the left side of his neck and trapezius muscle.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
"We got a few penalties early in the game. It’s never the way you want to start, down a guy early in the game and they kind of got momentum a few shots off of that. But I think by killing those two penalties it kind of gave us momentum afterwards, kind of played our game and came back to the way we should be playing," Couturier said.
After the game, the Flyers announced that Tyrell Goulbourne, who played well in his two-game cameo with the big club, was being sent back to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms with the NHL club heading into bye week.
Period-by-period synopsis
1ST PERIOD
Voracek received a hooking penalty behind the Buffalo net at the 1:00 mark. Early in the power play, Sam Reinhart stepped out from behind the net for a good scoring chance and a scramble ensued around the Flyers' net but the Sabres were unable to score. The Flyers continued to sit back in a very passive box against Buffalo's weak power play but survived it. Neuvirth made a save as the penalty expired. Buffalo had three shots.
Buffalo went right back to the power play after a long delayed call. At 3:47, Simmonds went to the box for slashing. Elliott stopped a center point blast by Rasmus Ristolainen; a routine save. With 43 seconds left, Neuvirth made a 10-bell glove save on a scorching one-timer by Reinhart from the bottom of the right circle.
Giroux led a 2-on-1 rush but missed the net on a shot from the right circle at about the 6:00 mark.
The Flyers got their first power play at 6:29 as Josh Gorges interfered with Voracek as he tried to move in on the forecheck. The first power play unit was out the entire time, working the puck around patiently. The Flyers generated two shots, including a tip-in on net by Couturier.
Tyrell Goulbourne made a subtle but good play along the walls to protect the puck and win a battle. That's one of the areas in which he's improved quite a bit.
Shots were 8-2 in Buffalo's favor at a TV timeout at 10:40 after Neuvirth gloved and held onto a Gorges shot from the bottom of the left circle.
After play resumed, Neuvirth stopped a top of the left circle shot by Jason Pominville and then a rebound followup try by Scott Wilson. With 5:40 left in the period, Travis Konecny and Couturier had a 2-on-1 chance from the blue line in. Couturier went to the net and tipped Konecny's pass just wide of the net.
Zemgus Girgensons tried to go wide on Brandon Manning but got knocked off balance and wiped out behind the net. With 38.8 seconds left, Nolan Patrick wheeled around up high in the zone and wristed a shot on net through a Wayne Simmonds screen. Lehner covered.
Marco Scandella jostled and chirped with Konecny at the first period buzzer. Things settled down fast, though, and the players peacefully skated off the ice.
First period shots were 12-5 in Buffalo's favor. Faceoffs were 11-10 Flyers (Couturier was 3-for-4 but Giroux was an uncharacteristic 1-for-6). Hits were 8-7 Buffalo (Radko Gudas was credited with three for the Flyers). Buffalo blocked five shots to two blocks by Philly.
2ND PERIOD
Valtteri Filppula attempted a shot directly off a left circle faceoff at the 1:00 mark. Lehner made the save.
Buffalo went to its third power play at 1:27. Andrew MacDonald went off for hooking. Eichel pulled a puck off the left boards and fed over to Ryan O'Reilly at the dot. He snapped a shot on goal that found the short side. Neuvirth needed to do a much better job at sealing off the angle. Ristolainen got the secondary assist as the Sabres took a 1-0 lead at 1:50.
At 3:42, the Flyers got the goal right back. Gostisbehere broke up a pass in the neutral zone intended for Pominville and the Flyers went the other way. Gostisbehere trailed the rush, got a pass on the tape from Scott Laughton and ripped a shot home from the deep left slot. Jori Lehterä got the secondary assist as Philly made it a 1-1 game.
The Gostisbehere goal energized the Flyers. The Patrick line had a dominating forechecking shift that ended at 6:16 when Lehner covered a dribbiling puck off the stick of Jordan Weal to alleviate the pressure. Shots were now 8-5 Flyers for the period.
The Flyers went to their second power play at 6:56. Wilson held Gudas behind the Flyers net. This time, Buffalo paid the price. Couturier found room at the left dot, took a pass out Giroux and one-timed the puck home for a 2-1 lead at 7:17. Assists to Giroux and Voracek.
Raffl landed a big hit in center ice and Voracek, on the other side, hobbled off to the bench. At 9:56, Weal ripped a shot on goal from the right side boards. Lehner made an unsteady save but held on.
Goulbourne went up the tunnel at 10:04. He returned for the start of the third period.
Kane bumped into Neuvirth at a whistle with 8:25 left after Neuvirth covered a routine shot from up high. Hägg came to his goalie's defense and he and Kane went off on unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to set up 4-on-4 play after a TV timeout. Shots were 15-7 Flyers.
The Sabres committed a too many men on the ice penalty with 1:04 left, setting up a 4-on-3 for the Flyers. With play moving back to a 5-on-4 power play, Lehner made a 10-bell diving save on Simmonds on what looked to be a sure goal, moments are another outstanding stop.
With 3:20 left, Neuvirth stopped a Jake McCabe shot from the right point. There was no rebound; important because there were Sabres lurking around.
Neuvirth made a key stop with 1:16 left in the period on a Kane shot from between the circles. The Sabre didn't get all of the shot, so it wasn't a scorcher, but it was still not an easy save.
Second period shots were 18-11 Flyers (23-23 apiece). Faceoffs were 19-8 Sabres in the period and 29-19 overall (O'Reilly was 9-for-14, Jacob Josefson was 7-for-10).
3RD PERIOD
Provorov stopped a Buffalo rush cold, depositing Reinhart on the seat of his pants in the opening minute of the period.
Goubourne put on a burst of speed up the middle to claim a puck and go in for a scoring chance. The bouncing puck took off and went over over the glass on his backhanded chip. Going to back to the bench, he made a "field goal is good" hand motion to assistant coach Ian Laperriere.
With Giroux covering his point up high, Hägg pinched over the middle, took a pass and blasted a scorching one-timer off the goalie's left (glove side) shoulder. Lehner went down in a heap after the puck deflected out of play with 16:11 left. The trainer came out for a lengthy visit but the goalie remained in the game.
The Laughton line, in combo with the Gostisbehere and Provorov defense pairing, had an extended forechecking shift that pinned the Sabres in deep. At 6:29, Neuvirth gloved a left point shot and held on for a TV timeout stoppage. Shots were 3-2 Flyers.
Konecny made a nice play to work the puck out of the defensive zone and skate it himself up the ice. Cut off by Ristolainen, Konecny dumped in deep from the blueline. Ristolainen gave him a little shot into the boards before the two separated, glaring at each other (and Konecny no doubt chirping).
Couturier had a point-blank chance on a 2-on-1 with Konecny after a good lead pass by Giroux. At the other end, with 9:47 left, a mass scramble ensued around the crease after Neuvirth (falling back into his net) struggled with an Eichel snap shot from the outside of the right circle that handcuffed him. The goalie contorted to eventually get a whistle with players whacking away.
Konecny, on his next shift, got into it with another Sabres player as he moved up the ice. Play continued.
With six minutes left, after a Flyers turnover up high in the Buffalo zone, Gostisbehere used a quick stick to break up a play inside the defensive blueline. As time ticked down to 5:18, Neuvirth gloved a side angle shot by McCabe for a stoppage. Shots were 5-3 Buffalo.
The Flyers took an icing at 15:09. Couturier beat O'Reilly on the ensuing faceoff but the Flyers could not clear. Kyle Okposo made a real nice play to wheel out from behind the net and put a rising backhander on goal.
Filppula collected a Sabres turnover at the blueline, moved in alone on Lehner but lost the puck on his backhand.
With a little over two minutes left, the Sabres pulled Lehner for an extra attacker and pressured heavily. Finally, Raffl worked the puck to safety up high. Voracek fed ahead to Couturier and he iced the win with an empty netter from just inside the blueline at 18:45. Assists to Voracek and Raffl.
The Sabres kept the net empty. The Flyers looked to feed Couturier for an attempt at a hat trick but he was too well-marked. Provorov did the honors instead from center point. Assists to Simmonds and MacDonald.
Third period shots were 8-6 Buffalo (31-29 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 15-5 Flyers (34-32 overall for Buffalo; Couturier finished 9-for-15 for the Flyers, Josefson was 7-for-11 for Buffalo). Final hits were 25-21 in Buffalo's favor (Ristolainen and Gudas shared a game-high four). Final shot blocks were 11-11.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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