Wrap: Flyers Collapse in Devastating Loss to Sabres
A must-win game against a team with nine wins on the season. A dominating first period giving way to a sleepy -- and very costly -- start to the second period. Giving up, not once but twice, two goals spaced less than a minute apart. Mental and physical miscues by the team's key veterans. Two rebound goals that turned a late one-goal lead into a deficit.
In short, the recipe for a nightmare.
The Philadelphia Flyers lost a 5-3 decision to the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday that was as devastating as it was infuriating. Sean Couturier losing a faceoff on his strong side to Jeff Skinner -- a winger -- and Sam Reinhart scoring off a set play. A needless icing by Claude Giroux. A rebound that dribbled behind Carter Hart and directed into the net off Skinner's skate but upheld on replay on the basis that it was Giroux's skate that inadvertently caused the kicking motion of Skinner's a skate. Jacob Bryson shooting the puck on its edge and a skittering puck that didn't die in Hart's pad but instead was clamed by Rasmus Asplund for a go-ahead goal.
"It’s hard to explain. We had that game in total control. We were giving them almost nothing. We just blew it. The icing that we didn’t need to do and lost the puck in our end in the corner there when we had control and they found a way to jump on one of their rebounds. We just couldn’t get it done," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said.
Oskar Lindblom (6th goal of the season) and Joel Farabee (PP, 15th) opened a 2-0 lead for the Flyers in the first period. A slow start to the second period by the Flyers proved costly as early goals spaced just 46 seconds apart by Reinhart (14th) and Arttu Routsalainen (1st NHL goal) undid the Flyers' lead and tied the game at 2-2. In the third period, Gostisbehere (8th) restored the lead for the Flyers before rebound goals 25 seconds apart by Skinner (5th) and Asplund (5th) put Buffalo ahead. Casey Mittelstadt (6th) added an empty netter with 24 ticks left.
Carter Hart took the loss, stopping 25 of 30 shots. Linus Ullmark denied 40 of 43 Flyers' shots including 15 of 16 in the third period.
For more on this costliest of losses, see the
Postgame 5 on the Flyers' official website.
********
Flyers Alumni Donate $25,000 to Flyers Warriors Program
Simultaneous to the Flyers' game with Buffalo at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers Warriors team played and defeated the Delaware Department of Corrections hockey team, 6-4, and the Skate Zone in Pennsauken on Sunday afternoon.
After the game, the Flyers Alumni Association presented a check to the Flyers Warriors program for $25,000. Brad Marsh, the Flyers Alumni Association president and Flyers Warriors head coach made the check presentation along with Riley Cote and Jim "Turk" Evers.
********
NHL Trade Deadline Day
The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow at 3 p.m. EDT. On the Flyers' website, there will be an "instant analysis" article on any significant moves that the Flyers make, followed by a "5 Takeaways" feature after general manager Chuck Fletcher addressed the media at the end of the day. Subsequently, I will join Jason Myrtetus on his special one-hour edition of Flyers' Daily.
Here on HockeyBuzz, I will jump on the deadline day podcast ahead of 3 p.m. to discuss any moves the Flyers make and my thoughts on the deadline in general. That will be followed by a blog on Tuesday. There will a short-form game preview that day before the Flyers take on the Washington Capitals.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»