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Wrap: Flyers Grind Out 5th Straight Win, Beat Sabres, 2-1 |
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WRAP: FLYERS GRIND OUT 5th STRAIGHT WIN, BEAT SABRES 2-1
On a night that started out with a costly gaffe and a sloppy first period in general, the Philadelphia Flyers got better as the game moved along and went on to defeat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. On the heels of an 0-5-5 winless streak, the Flyers have strung together five straight regulation wins.
The Flyers took over the game in the second period, out-chancing the Sabres by a wide margin and eventually taking a one-goal lead after the game was tied at 1-1 until late in the frame. The third period had little flow for long stretches but the Flyers did a decent job of closing the game out to nail down the win.
"I’ll be honest with you I don’t think we played good today. To be honest, we found a way to win which is really important. You aren’t going to play great every night, but I don’t think it was a great game by us. We played well when we needed to, but we got a lot better which is positive," Jakub Voracek said.
Travis Sanheim (1st NHL goal) and Valtteri Filppula (8th) scored for the Flyers. Dale Weise (2nd assist), Jordan Weal (6th), Voracek (31st), Michael Raffl (4th) chipped in helpers on a night when the top line did not produce a goal.
Brian Elliott started out the night as a goat. He fumbled a puck behind the net that resulted in a tap-in goal into a vacant cage and then nearly had a repeat that was only prevented by a desperation skate save by rookie Flyers center Nolan Patrick.
Thereafter, Elliott was a hero. Although he only saw 20 shots overall, he had to make several crucial saves -- including three very tough ones on the dangerous Evander Kane -- that proved to vital to the win. If Elliott had not made every one of those crucial stops, there might have been a very different outcome than the team in front of him bouncing back to restore order.
"You saw tonight; I don’t know how many blocked shots we had. That was key. I think with only seconds left they had a shot from the point. Those wristers aren’t getting through and they aren’t going in. We’re clearing it out and that’s huge for me," Elliott said.
The timeliness and difficulty of Elliott's toughest saves stood out more than the quantity on this night.
"A night like tonight you can say we didn’t give up a lot of shots. Yet if you look at a couple of the critical grade A saves we made in this hockey game by Moose those are just as valuable on a 20 save night as maybe a 35 or 40 save performance on a different night. They are game changing types of saves. Moose gave those to us tonight," Hakstol said.
While Elliott was a game-saver when needed, Sanheim got to wear the "Ric Flair robe" in the postgame locker room. As one would expect, the rookie was beaming.
"He’s been pressing for a little while, I was so happy to see a smile on his face. That’s just gonna do wonders for his game, you can see his shift after that he gets another chance. I’m so happy for him," Weise said of Sanheim.
Oddly, Sanheim's long-awaited first NHL goal came on a night where, especially early in the game, he was having a particularly rough night. The quiet but analytical young blueliner gave a very honest self-assessment of his night.
“The better I am defensively; it turns out the better I am offensively. I am just trying to work on the little areas defensively and I can join offensively," Sanheim said. “I don’t think we were very happy with our first period, especially me. I thought minus the goal, that might have been my worst period of the season. But, I thought we bounced back, battled hard in the final 40.”
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said that he believes Sanheim is coming along well overall.
"There are always lessons along the way. Especially for a young defensemen. You know obviously Travis has had a lot of nights where he has played good. Where he has played well. He has also had some bumps in the road. He scores a great goal. It’s his first goal in the national hockey league and his teammates are obviously real happy for him," Hakstol said.
"He probably didn’t have his best game tonight and certainly our team we were not our best in the first twenty. Travis is always honest with himself and the evaluation of his own play. That always for me that always helps him keep his feet on the ground and move onto the next challenge.”
Ivan Provorov did not find his way onto the scoresheet in this game, but he was a force at both ends of the ice. In 27:55 of ice time across 28 shifts, the 20-year-old blueliner fired off eight shot attempts (four on net, three that got blocked, one miss). He was credited with a game-high six hits, one block and two credited takeaways (one on the Flyers' lone penalty kill) without a giveaway.
Raffl, playing his 300th NHL game, said earlier in the day that the milestone means a lot to him because there was once a time in his life where he'd have never have believed it was attainable. On his night, he recorded his 101st NHL point, and it came about on the game-winning goal. He has thrived since moving to a line with Voracek and Filppula.
"I try not to measure myself on points. But, yes, it’s a little bigger of a role. I’m getting a little more ice time and obviously playing with Jake and Fil it is lots of fun offensively," Raffl said.
Ryan O'Reilly (8th goal of the season) and Zemgus Girgensons (3rd assist) tallied a point apiece on the early goal that ultimately stood as the lone tally by the goal-starved Sabres. Robin Lehner stopped 25 of 27 Flyers shots in a losing cause.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They also continued their run of taking only one or two penalties of their own. On this night, the Flyers went 1-for-1 on the PK.
1ST PERIOD
The game started with a massive Flyers' breakdown on the second shift. Elliott tried to stop a dump-in in the trapezoid and lost the puck to Girgensons. Elliott and Sanheim then bumped into each other. Girgensons centered the puck and O'Reilly had an easy tap-in for a 1-0 lead at 1:29.
"They came hard, and a little miscommunication, bad play on my part. We did a heck of a job coming back and tying that up. That can go sideways in a hurry, but we sorted that out," Elliott said after the game.
The same thing nearly happened again a few minutes later on another dump-in with the Radko Gudas and Sanheim pairing out. Patrick's skate saved a goal on a Jason Pominville wraparound try with a vacated cage.
After play moved the other way, the Flyers soon tied the game.
Weal forced a turnover behind the net and Weise passed out to Sanheim, who had pinched up to the top of the left circle. Sanheim fired off a quick snap shot through a screen that beat Lehner to knot the game at 4:02. Weise and Weal got the assists.
Shots were 3-2 in Buffalo's favor at a TV timeout at the 6:41 mark. Shortly past the 11:00 mark, Elliott knocked away a Girgensons one-time from the left circle. Moments later, Okposo took a tripping penalty at 11:15. The Flyers went on the game's first power play.
Voracek had a shot blocked above the right circle and Buffalo had a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush. The play did not make connections. The second unit came out. Patrick set up two good looks at the net: one for Valtteri Filppula from the right dot, the second for Ivan Provorov with traffic in front. Philly did not score.
Sanheim created a mess with a turnover to Kane inside the defensive blueline and then lost him on a give-and-go. The Flyers were very fortunate that Kane didn't bury the return feed.
After a late-period multi-player collision, Shayne Gostisbehere went up the tunnel immediately in a lot of pain, seemingly favoring his shoulder or wrist. He returned for the second period.
First period shots were 7-7. The Flyers won 10 of 15 faceoffs (Claude Giroux was 4-for-4). Credited hits were 10-5 in Buffalo's favor, led by five credited to Girgensons.
2ND PERIOD
The Flyers got their second power play at 1:06 on an offensive zone trip away from the puck by Evan Rodrigues on Patrick. On the man advantage, Simmonds (netfront) and Gostisbehere (right-circle one-timer) had early chances. Late in the advantage, with the second unit on the ice, Elliott made a pad save on a shorthanded bid by Kane on the doorstep.
Two good keeps by Gudas at the right point and a near tip-in by Weal highlighted some extended offensive zone time for the Flyers near the six-minute mark. Shots were 7-1 Flyers at a TV timeout at 6:58.
The Sabres generated some pressure after play resumed. At 8:10, Elliott denied an Okposo wrister from the bottom of the circle.
At the 11:11 mark, Raffl sprung Voracek through the neutral zone. Powering past a defender, Voracek went in on Lehner but was turned away on the backhand.
Gostisbehere carried the puck into the right circle and passed back to Weise for a wrist shot from the deep slot. Lehner stopped it cleanly at 12:38.
Raffl outmuscled two Sabres for the puck behind the net and passed out to Filppula. The Flyers had good offensive zone time but no dangerous chances. Late in the shift, Sanheim got caught on the wrong side of the puck but a back-checking Filppula broke up the play in the Flyers' zone.
With 3:09 left in the period, Elliott reeled in a partially blocked Sam Reinhart pass as it skittered across the blue paint. A TV timeout ensued. Shots were 10-5 Flyers.
After a Sabres icing, Filppula won a left circle faceoff. Moments later, Raffl had a rebound chance that trickled past Lehner but was swept out of the crease. The Flyers retained possession on a good keep by Robert Hägg. Moments later, Voracek passed from the goal line to Filppula in the slot. The Finn elevated the puck home for 2-1 lead at 17:27. The assists went to Voracek and Raffl.
“It was a great play by Hagger to keep the puck and it just happened to bounce out. I was able to see Jakey there, he’s fabulous with the puck and he found Fil and he puts it in the top corner. It was a pretty nice goal, I thought," Raffl said.
With 56.1 seconds left, Sanheim fired off a shot from the right side. Lehner made the save but was bumped into by a teammate, who had been bumped into him by Gudas. Pushing and shoving ensued after the whistle.
The Sabres got their first power play at 19:47. Filppula was called for holding in a defensive battle on the walls. The Sabres controlled the draw, rotated the puck and Rasmus Ristolainen fired off a left point slapper that Elliott stopped. A near potential breakaway for Couturier ran out of time as the horn sounded. The Saberes took 1:47 of power play time into the third period.
Second period shots were 14-6 in the Flyers' favor (21-13 overall in the Flyers' favor). Second period hits were 18-8 in the Flyers' favor (23-18 overall in the Flyers' favor, led by four credited to Provorov). Faceoffs were 12-9 in Buffalo's favor (19-17 overall in the Flyers' favor).
3RD PERIOD
As the penalty kill continued for the Flyers, Provorov won a battle behind the Philly net. Moments later, he came up with a zone clear. The Flyers killed off the penalty. Exiting the box, Filppula joined an attack for a backhanded chance.
The Patrick line asserted some good forechecking pressure. After play finally went the other way and the Laughton line came out, the Flyers had an overload on the left side and Kane got wide open behind Gudas to take a pass for a bang-bang chance from the right slot. Elliott came up with a huge pad save at 4:47. Lots of pushing and shoving followed after the whistle but then tempers calmed.
The Sabres nearly tied the game as Elliott made a shoulder save on a Girgensons slapper from the right half boards and the puck rebounded to a pinching Marco Scandella. Luckily for the Flyers, Scandella didn't finish it off with Elliott helpless to make a second save if it was on net.
At 9:52, Giroux made a neutral zone pass to Simmonds up the left side. His left circle shot was stopped by Lehner, who was squared to him. Shots were 5-4 Flyers at a TV timeout at 11:01.
Continuing an aggressive game both physically and in the offensive zone, Provorov pinched in and generated his eighth shot attempt of the game. With 7:40 left, the Sabres generated a chance off a loosely covered breakout rush. Inside the Flyers' zone, a pass got through Sanheim to Jordan Nolan. His right hash-mark shot was fired off Elliott's blocker.
The Laughton line got hemmed in deep and forced a a defensive zone shift start for the Flyers top line with 2:53 left. However, the Flyers gained possession and went the other way. A neutral zone turnover created a counter chance for Simmonds and Couturier but it dribbled in on net.
The Sabres pulled Lehner for an extra attacker. Raffl came up with a zone clear and then, from the neutral zone, swatted the puck into the Buffalo end.
With an offensive zone faceoff in the Flyers left circle upcoming, Buffalo called timeout with 39.6 seconds left. Giroux won the draw but Andrew MacDonald got swarmed in the corner and Buffalo got the puck. Finally, after keeping play to the perimeter, Couturier cleared the zone and time expired.
Third period shots were 7-6 in Buffalo's favor (27-20 in the Flyers' favor overall). Final faceoffs were 30-25 in the Flyers' favor (Giroux's 8-for-12 led the way). Final hits were 31-30 in Buffalo's favor. The Flyers blocked 19 shots (led by five from MacDonald) to 14 by Buffalo.
"The first 20 minutes, honestly, that’s not the way we want to start at home. We chased in the first twenty minutes. We just couldn’t find our legs and we weren’t sharp and crisp with the puck and because of that we spent a lot of time in our own defensive zone," Hakstol said.
"I thought from there the second period was an outstanding period. I thought we were able to absolutely turn the tables and played a real good second period. Absolutely I agree with Jake in terms of the third period was just a grind it out type of third period. Sometimes you have to win games that way. Those two points count just as much as a pretty win. This was a grinding good win for us.”
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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