The NHL Metropolitan Division is so incredibly tight right now that only five points separates the 1st and 8th place teams. After soundly defeating the Buffalo Sabres tonight the Flyers are sitting in 4th place and just one point out of 1st. You would hate to fall on hard times right now because you’d face the possibility of the entire pack pulling away from you all at the same time.
Philly vs Buffalo
This game was very reminiscent of the Flyers recent home victory against the New Jersey Devils. The Sabres scored first 4:08 into the game. Great setup Josh Doan sent a pass out from behind the net to Jason Zucker who tapped it in from the top of the crease.
Special teams and unusual pairings were the running theme of the opening period. There were a total of seven penalties called and 5-on-5 hockey was scarce. The Flyers made the most of it. They scored three unanswered goals in the span of 59 seconds.
8:26 Travis Konecny on the power-play was super patient with the puck at the point. Shifting from side to side out by the blue line waiting for just the right time to release the shot. He wristed the puck short side about a foot off the ground through traffic from the top of the slot. Sabres goalie Colten Ellis was down in the butterfly the puck went just over his right pad. Perfectly placed, perfectly paced. 1-1.
9:04 Trevor Zegras also on the power-play. Sanheim to Konecny to Zegras who fired a snap shot from just above the dot on the right hand side. Zegras was one of the last on the ice at warm-ups repetitively firing pucks at the net from almost that exact spot. 2-1 Flyers.
9:25 Bobby Brink even strength goal. Nikita Grebenkin to Noah Cates who fired the initial shot. Brink picked up the rebound and quickly sent it home. 3-1 Flyers.
The Flyers had dismantled the Sabres and their game plan in under a minute’s time. They did the same thing in the 1st period against the Devils last week but it only took them 26 seconds that time. Either way good luck bouncing back.
Milestone
As you can imagine things got a bit chippy as frustration mounted and the first period came to an end.
Flyers Fans were in a great mood during the intermission as they sang Happy Birthday to public address announcer Lou Nolan who was celebrating his 80th birthday. Lou is well known and well loved in Flyers-land, this is his 54th season with the team. Thanks Lou!
Playing with a lead
The Flyers are so often neck and neck till the bitter end that it is rare to see them experience the luxury of playing with the lead. Trevor Zegras took more faceoffs than usual. The line of Abols, Delsauriers, and Hathaway skated more than usual, which also helped keep the frustrated Sabres in check.
1:45 into the second period Noah Cates scored his 6th goal of the season. A nice passing play Drysdale to Brink then Cates to tap it home. 4-1 Flyers.
Samuel Ersson
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson had exactly they type of game the Flyers needed to see out of him. He was fantastic. Some of the saves he pulled off tonight were truly spectacular. In multiple situations it looked as if the Sabres had him picked apart or dead to rights and he came up huge time after time.
Bowen Byram picked up the Sabres 2nd goal on a high rising wrist-shot from in close 11:48 into the 2nd period.
Owen Tippett capped off the scoring less than a minute after the Sabre goal to smack them back into place. Any come-back thoughts were very short lived. After an egregious give-away by the Sabers in their own end Tippett got in close with a shot then batted his own rebound out of midair past Colten Ellis who gave up all five Philadelphia goals.
Scary Moment
With the Flyers already looking at two to three months without Tyson Foerster the last thing they need right now would be an injured Trevor Zegras. With 4:10 left in the 2nd period Rasmus Dahlin violently boarded Zegras who went down in a heap along the side boards. Dahlin was given a five minute major penalty.
The call triggered an instant review. The five minute major call on the ice stood. In fact a game misconduct was added. Flyers Fans really let Dahlin have it as he was escorted from the penalty box and straight up the tunnel. Zegras got up on his own and finished the game looking no worse for the wear.
Close it out
The 3rd period was scoreless as Samuel Ersson and the Philadelphia Flyers protected their 5-2 lead to the final horn. It was another wild night in Philly as Brink, Michkov, Cates, Konecny, and Sanheim all had multiple point games.
Up Next: The Flyers are off till Sunday afternoon when they faceoff against the Colorado Avalanche at 1:00 PM.
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