Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
It was only ten minutes into the 1st period when Flyers goaltender Carter Hart was heading up the ramp on his way to the locker room. Before the start of the 2nd period there was an announcement in the press box that he would not be returning to the game due to injury. No further updates are available as of this time.
The Flyers could have really used a win tonight. After a strong start to their season the past couple weeks have been a bit of a rough ride. Coming into tonight the Flyers have won only one of their last five games. Things opened up on a positive note. Joel Farabee scored a goal just 55 seconds into the game. It wasn’t a masterpiece but it counted. Farabee attempted a shot from the left circle. Sabre defenseman Henri Jokiharju caught a piece of it, just enough to tip it up and over his goaltenders head.
The Flyers lead lasted only a few minutes. At 16:22 J.J. Peterka made a beautiful pass into the slot that seemed to handcuff Egor Zamula. Casey Mittelstadt received the pass in front with Zamula facing the wrong direction and put the puck passed Carter Hart.
Moments later Jeff Skinner beat Hart unobstructed from the slot. Hart seemed to have a clear view of the shot and it just went over his blocker and into the net. As they say it was the type of goal he would “like to have back”. Fortunately for Hart he did get it back. Flyers coach John Tortorella challenged the play and after review it was deemed the play was offside and the goal was disallowed.
Carter Hart injured
Then at ten minutes exactly into the 1st period. Buffalo’s Brandon Biro scored a messy goal after which play was halted and Carter Hart left the game. It was absolutely not the way the Flyers wanted to start this game. And the possible implications of Hart’s injury are not something the Flyers need right now. Hart has been really solid between the pipes so far this season and has kept his team competitive. Much of their early success has been due to the strong play of their starting net-minder.
The Flyers did bounce back before the end of the period to tie the score at two. On a rush into the Buffalo zone Cam Atkinson dished the puck to Travis Sanheim. Atkinson kept skating towards the net. Sanheim held onto the puck waiting for just the right moment to feather a pass back to Atkinson who scored his 6th goal of the season.
The Flyers were the dominant team in this match-up. They outshot the Sabres 40-15 on the night. They had tons of chances. Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had most of the answers. The Flyers had a number of scoring opportunities but the Buffalo net-minder was always right there to keep the door closed.
Unfortunately for the Flyers every misstep they made in the 3rd period seemed to lead to another Sabres goal. Buffalo scored three unanswered goals in the final period beating the Flyers by the final score of 5-2. A healthy Carter Hart could have made all the difference in this game. The organization had just made the decision to send Felix Sandstrom to Lehigh Valley, hopefully he didn’t get a chance to unpack yet.
Back-up goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped 7 of 9 shots after replacing the injured Carter Hart. The final goal was an empty netter. When you look at the big picture the Flyers didn’t play a bad hockey game. They had some missed opportunities. There were some defensive breakdowns. There was an epidemic of blind behind the back passes that ended up on Sabres sticks. But no matter how many ways you break this game down, when you outshoot your opponent 40-15 and lose 5-3 goaltending obviously had a lot to do with the outcome.
