WRAP: FLYERS BEAT BUFFALO, 3-1
Over the course of any prolonged winning streak, there is usually a game or two that a club does not deserve to win but comes away victorious, anyway. Such was the case on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center, as the Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to nine games with a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Flyers were outplayed to varying degrees in all three periods. Perhaps it was the combination of the "trap game" effect of playing a non-playoff team sandwiched in between a string of higher-end opponents and the fatigue factor of playing for the third time in four nights on the heels of back-to-back high energy, high emotion games.
Whatever it was, the Sabres gave the Flyers all they could handle on Saturday. Buffalo won the decided majority of puck battles, more consistenty generated scoring chances, and kept the Flyers hemmed in their own end -- or turning pucks over on attempted stretch passes -- repeatedly. The Flyers, especially in the first period, missed the net far too frequently when they did have open looks.
How did the Flyers manage to win this game at all, much less in regulation?
First and foremost, phenomenal goaltending from Carter Hart (38 saves on 39 shots) and two dominant goal-scoring shifts by the top line trio of Claude Giroux (two goals), Sean Couturier (20:50 TOI, five shots on goal, 13-for-19 on faceoffs) and Jakub Voracek (two assists) led the way. Voracek has 10 assists in his last five games.
Somehow, the Flyers never trailed in this game. They were hanging by a thread as they got into penalty trouble in the third period. A bend-but-don't-break night on the penalty kill (4-for-4 overall, 3-for-3 in the final period) and several vital saves by Hart pulled them through unscathed.
After a scoreless first period, Giroux (20th goal) got the Flyers on the board first. Dominik Kahun (12th) answered back before the end of the frame, as the teams went to the second intermission tied at 1-1. Giroux struck again (21st) at 9:28 of the third period, and Joel Farabee (8th) added some much-needed insurance at 14:49 after Buffalo goaltender Carter Hutton turned the puck over on the doorstep and the Flyers rookie immediately stashed it home.
Prior to his late-game gaffe, Hutton played well in his own right. He stopped 21 of 24 shots.
For more details and analysis on the game, visit
Postgame 5: Nine Lives on the Flyers' official website.
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PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
Winning means never have to look behind you in the standings; only forward. With Saturday's win, the Flyers remained in a points (89) and regulation wins (32) tie with the Washington Capitals atop the Metropolitan Division. However, the Capitals still hold the secondary tiebreaker of regulation plus overtime wins (37-36).
By virtue of Washington beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, 5-2, the Flyers now hold a five-point lead over the third-place Penguins in the standings. The Penguins, who have played one fewer game than the Flyers or Caps, host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.
The Flyers will have a complete off day on Sunday. On Monday, they will practice for the start of a very difficult slate of games; one that will require the Flyers to elevate their game back to the level they displayed this past week in back-to-back wins over Washington (road) and Carolina (home) rather than their sloppiness in Saturday's game against Buffalo. The upcoming schedule is as follows:
* TUE Mar 10: vs. Boston
* THU Mar 12: @ Tampa
* SAT Mar 14: vs Minnesota
* SUN Mar 15: vs Edmonton
* TUE Mar 17: vs St. Louis
With 14 games left in their regular season schedule, the Flyers are currently 12 points plus a five regulation win tiebreaker edge above Carolina; the highest-standing club below the playoff cutoff line. The Hurricanes can do the Flyers a favor on Sunday if they can beat the Penguins in regulation, erasing the Pens' game in hand without Pittsburgh drawing any closer than the current five-point game behind the Flyers.
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PHANTOMS UPDATE: MARCH 8, 2020
After sustained a 6-4 home loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday evening, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms faced a late Saturday afternoon road game against the Binghamton Devils before heading right back to Allentown to rematch with Bridgeport on Sunday.
Things did not go well at all in Bingo for the Phantoms, who fell to a miserable 7-20-4 on the road (24-28-8 overall) with a 5-1 loss to the Devils on Saturday.
Special teams were the Phantoms undoing. Lehigh Valley went just 2-for-4 on the penalty and the power play (a season-long major weakness) went 0-for-4 with two shorthanded goals allowed. The latter was an empty netter while attacking 6-on-4.
Binghamton goalie Zane McIntyre stopped 34 of 35 shots the earn the win. Alex Lyon took the loss, making 29 saves on 34 shots. Fabian Zetterlund, Egor Sharangovich (shorthanded), Ryan Schmelzer (power play), Mikhail Maltsev (power play), and Nathan Bastian (shorthanded, ENG) scored for the Devils.
The Phantoms were held scoreless for the first 51:30 of the game. Finally, Carsen Twarynski (7th goal of the season) broke up McIntyre's shutout bid. Twarynski has scored goals in back-to-back games. Mark Friedman and Nate Prosser assisted on the goal.
After scoring two goals and adding an assist in a losing cause on Friday, rookie center Morgan Frost was held off the scoresheet on Saturday. He had three shots on goal. Linemate Andy Andreoff saw his three-game goal scoring streak come to an end.
On Sunday, the Phantoms play the Sound Tigers at the PPL Center in a 3:05 p.m. start. Bridgeport is also playing for the third time in less than three nights. On Saturday in Wilkes Barre, the Sound Tigers sustained a 5-2 loss to the WB/S Penguins.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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