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Wrapup: Late Comeback Lifts Flyers over Buffalo, 4-3, in Shootout |
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The power play cavalry arrived just in time to save the day for the Philadelphia Flyers in a dramatic 4-3 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. Philly trailed 3-0 in the third period, before a troika of power play goals by Travis Konecny, Brayden Schenn and Mark Streit -- the latter two coming in the final three minutes of regulation -- rescued one point for the Flyers.
Philadelphia had the better of play in overtime, but had to win via shootout. The Flyers outscored Buffalo 2-0 in the skills competition. Second-round shooter Claude Giroux and third-round shooter Jakub Voracek converted their chances and relief goaltender Steve Mason stopped Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo to earn the win.
"We just wanted to go out and play hard for each other in the third period. They made a pretty tough situation, down three to nothing on a back to back night and not a whole lot is going right. You are not able to get a whole lot of things going. At that point in time, you get a goal, work hard, battle hard for each other," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
"Like I said, you get that first one and anything can happen. When you are just not playing well and you dig a hole, usually it is tough to dig out of. Our focus was pretty good. We were working hard, trying hard, we just didn’t have a whole lot. In saying that, our guys were ready to play. One good thing happened and sparked it from there."
The Flyers have become all-too-familiar with playing comeback hockey, having erased deficits in six of seven games to start the 2016-17 season; the exception being Philadelphia's opening night 4-2 win in LA in which the Flyers never trailed. It is not a formula for sustained success -- and the Flyers' 3-3-1 start overall is nothing special -- but the team's level of resiliency continues to be one of its best traits, just as it was last season.
"I think we played some bad hockey today. We know we are a better team than this. I think our hard work and work ethic goes back in this game, and emotionally the fans being behind us. It was a fun third period," Giroux said.
After a scoreless first period, Tyler Ennis opened the scoring for Buffalo with a deflection goal off a Zemgus Girgensons right circle shot that first deflected off Radko Gudas' stick and then off Ennis. A power of power play goals by Buffalo's Matt Moulson at 3:56 and 15:43 of the second period -- the latter of which not played very well by starting goaltender Michal Neuvirth -- ended Neuvirth's night after 35;43 (14 saves on 17 shots).
In relief, Mason stopped eight shots in regulation and OT before going 2-for-2 in the shootout. Losing goaltender Anders Nilsson, who played well for Buffalo in his first start of the season, stopped 38 of 41 shots in regulation/OT before going 1-for-3 in the shootout. Nilsson denied Nick Cousins in the first round. In the second round, Giroux (who usually attacks with speed) went in deliberately and found room between the pads. Voracek's goal saw the Flyers forward cut in from the right circle, wait out the goalie and then elevate a forehander into the far side of the net.
The Flyers finished 3-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. The push for a third period comeback started after Konecny scored his first NHL goal by deflecting a power play point shot past Nilsson.
“I felt excited and I feel that everyone was excited that we got a score on the board. Honestly, it’s what got us motivated was when we saw a hit on Jakey (Jake Voracek). It’s not what you want to see to one of your best players going down like, and the fact that he had to leave the game and come back got us even more motivated. We got going those two power plays our power plays set a role. When that gets going, it makes it hard for the other team to stop us," Konecny said.
The energy for a big, sustained push picked up late as the Sabres self-destructed with bad penalties and the Flyers rolled from there.
"Obviously it’s fun when you play with the puck. We got some good huge saves early on from Mase and he just kept us in it. Took one to spark us and I think it was even a little bit more excitement that it was TK getting his first," Schenn said.
First, with 3:20 left, Dmitri Kulikov left his feet to deliver a check to Voracek inside the Flyers' offensive zone. Voracek was compelled to go through the concussion protocol -- thankfully he was OK --and did not return to the game until it was tied. Playing in Voracek's usual spot on the right side, Schenn scored his first goal of the season as he ripped a shot home from near the hash marks at 17:04. Giorux and Streit earned the assists.
With 2:27 remaining, Sam Reinhart went off for high-sticking Brandon Manning. In a scramble around the net, Streit scored from just outside the crease with a pileup in the crease to tie the game and force OT. The Sabres' challenged the goal, hoping for an overturn for goalie interference. However, Schenn had been heavily pushed into the crease, and the replay delay was relatively short before the good-goal ruling was upheld. Streit, who got the secondary assist on the Konecny goal, finished with a three-point night.
Giroux very nearly won the game in OT, but was robbed by Nilsson's glove as the Flyers' captain moved over the middle. Nilsson also made a good stop on Voracek off the rush.
"I really thought I had him. I just gave him a little muffin in the glove and I wasn’t too happy about it," Giroux said of the Nilsson glove save.
Back in the first period, Giroux sprung Matt Read in alone on Nilsson with a great pass inside the blueline but Read was denied on the backhand as he was unable to put the puck upstairs.
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol challenged the Sabres third goal, claiming Neuvirth had been speared -- albeit well before the goal. The Flyers' coach already knew the challenge was unlikely to be successful but his primary objectives were to obtain a longer-than-30-second timeout and to buy Mason a little extra time to stretch in the crease. Almost immediately, Mason was tested by Moulson. It ended up being an important save by the end of the night.
Ivan Provorov led the Flyers with 24:12 of ice time. On special teams, he played 1:35 on the power play and 3:36 on the penalty kill.
The Flyers have an off-day on Wednesday then are right back in action the next night against the Arizona Coyotes at the Wells Fargo Center. The game will be Flyers Hall of Fame Night; the first of five Heritage Nights during the team's 50th Anniversary Season.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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