Instant Recap: Flyers head into their Bye Week with a 4-1 win over the lowly Sabres

Philadelphia Flyers

Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny

Michael Raffl – Valterri Fippula – Jakub Voracek

Jordan Weal – Nolan Patrick – Wayne Simmonds

Jori Lehtera – Scott Laughton – Tyrell Goulbourne

Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gosisbehere

Robert Hagg – Andrew MacDonald

Brandon Manning – Radko Gudas

Michal Neuvirth

Brian Elliott

 

Buffalo Sabres

Evander Kane – Ryan O’Reilly – Kyle Okposo

Zemgus Girgensons – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart

Scott Wilson – Evan Rodrigues – Jason Pominville

Johan Larsson – Jacob Josefson – Jordan Nolan

Marco Scandella – Rasmus Ristolainen

Josh Gorges – Zach Bogosian

Nathan Beaulieu – Jake McCabe

Robin Lehner

Chad Johnson

 

1st Period Notes:

Jake Voracek is called for a hooking penalty on Josh Gorges just 1 minute into the game. Gorges sold it a bit. The Flyers manage to escape the early PK with the score still tied.

Just after the Voracek penalty ends, Simmonds is called for a slashing penalty. Soft call but Simmonds needs to be more careful this year as the league tightens up on those types of plays. Neuvirth stands tall through this penalty as well, robbing Sam Reinhart of a goal on his wide open chance from the slot.

And in rapid succession once again, Buffalo’s Gorges gets called for interference on Voracek just after Simmonds penalty ends. The 1st PP unit gets plenty of pressure but can’t find the back of the net. Lehner is up to the task.

Through the first 15 minutes of the period, Flyers trail Buffalo in shots 10-3. The early penalties took a toll on any momentum they were carrying over from their great performance on Saturday.

The period ends in a lull of back and forth hockey. Flyers still haven’t found their legs in this one. Tied at 0 after the 1st.

SCORING

None

PENALTIES

PHI 1:00 – Voracek (Hooking – Gorges)

PHI 3:47 – Simmonds (Slashing – Josefson)

BUF 6:29 – Gorges (Interference – Voracek)

SHOTS

Philadelphia 5

Buffalo 12

2nd Period Notes:

The second period starts the same as the first, with a Philadelphia penalty. MacDonald gets called for a hooking penalty just a minute and a half into the period. Ryan O’Reilly wastes no time on the PP, ripping a shot up high on Neuvirth. 0-1 Sabres.

Ghost answers quickly. He turned over the puck in the neutral zone and sent the puck up ice. After a pretty passing play by the 4th line, the puck eventually finds its way back to Ghost who blasts the puck home. 1-1.

Gudas is brought down behind the Philadelphia net and draws a penalty on Scott Wilson. Couturier scores in just over 20 seconds on a Giroux saucer pass from behind the net to take the lead for the Flyers. 2-1.

Evander Kane unnecessarily rams into the Neuvirth after the whistle with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period. MacDonald and Hagg take issue with the incident and go after Kane. Hagg and Kane are sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. 4-on-4 hockey.

One minute into the 4-on-4, the Sabres are called for too many men on the ice. Buffalo coach Phil Housley isn’t happy with the call but it stands. Flyers head to the PP.

Robin Lehner makes two unbelievable saves on Simmonds throughout the PP but the Flyers can’t solve him before the penalty ends. Back to even strength.

Philadelphia is buzzing after their goal. We see more and more pushing and shoving as the physicality in this game continues to rise. Travis Konecny sticks to his agitator ways and gets under Ristolainen’s skin. Period ends 2-1 Flyers.

SCORING

BUF 1:50 – Ryan O’Reilly PPG (Eichel, Ristolainen)

PHI 3:42 – Shayne Gostisbehere (Laughton, Lehtera)

PHI 7:17 – Sean Couturier (Giroux, Voracek)

PENALTIES

PHI 1:27 – MacDonald (Hooking – Girgensons)

BUF 6:56 – Wilson (Holding – Gudas)

PHI 11:35 – Hagg (Unsportsmanlike Conduct – Kane)

BUF 11:35 – Kane (Unsportsmanlike Conduct – Hagg)

BUF 12:31 – Too Many Men on the Ice (Served by Pominville)

SHOTS

Philadelphia 18 (23)

Buffalo 11 (23)

3rd Period Notes:

4 minutes into the period, Robert Hagg winds up and takes a rip from the hash marks. The puck sneaks under Lehner’s face mask and catches his neck. He collapsed and play was stopped but managed to get back to his feet after some laboring and stay in the game.

Flyers have upped their physical play this period. They’re winning battles along the boards and throwing their body around a bit through the first half of the period.

Sabres are noticeable faster than the Flyers this period. Flyers are on the back half of a back-to-back and have played a lot of hard-fought games lately.

With 9 minutes remaining, the Flyers get their best chance of the period when Raffl is gifted a great chance to shoot on a 2-on-2. He elects to pass much too late and the team’s pass-first mentality plagues the Flyers again. No shot on net.

The Flyers are in full turtle mode as they try to protect their lead. Most players are gassed and they’re doing a lot of dumping and chasing as the period winds down.

The Sabres elect to pull Lehner and Couturier fires a puck into the empty net shortly after. He’s been on fire of late. 3-1 Flyers.

Buffalo desperately pulls Lehner again immediately following Couturier’s goal. Provorov ends up with the puck on his stick and fires it home after some crafty passing in the Buffalo zone. 4-1 Flyers, that’s all she wrote.

SCORING

PHI 18:45 – Sean Couturier (Voracek, Raffl)

PHI 19:27 – Ivan Provorov (Simmonds, MacDonald)

PENALTIES

None

SHOTS

Philadelphia 6 (29)

Buffalo 8 (31)

 

FINAL: Philadelphia Flyers (4-1)

The Flyers were definitely tired coming into this game and having to fight off two penalties in the first 5 minutes of the game didn’t help the situation any. They fought through the fatigue and managed to score on the chances that they had. The players who need to produce are continuing to and the Flyers are going into their “bye week” just outside of playoff spot. After being 9 points out following their 10-game losing streak, this is a great place to be for the Orange and Black.