The Flyers came in to the game on Tuesday, March 9, with much energy. It wasn’t pretty from start to finish but they fought the whole way through and got what they needed…a ‘W’.
They won 5-4 in an intense game down the stretch. Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott had an amazing effort late in the game and shutout the Sabres in the shootout with some acrobatic saves.
Just 1:56 into the opening period, James van Riemsdyk scored the first goal of the game from the slot converting a nice pass by Joel Farabee to make the score 1-0. 4:33 in to the game, the Sabres got their first good look and tied the game on a goal by Sam Reinhart (assisted by Dylan Cozens). This was the Sabres first goal against the Flyers in seven periods.
Just five minutes later, the Sabres continued the offensive flow as they took the lead 2-1 on a great shot by Riley Sheahan (assisted by Eric Staal and Victor Olofsson) Sam Reinhart got his second goal of the game on a wrist shot to the upper top right of the net to give the Sabres a two goal lead going into the second period. Just under three minutes into the second period, Scott Laughton made a terrific pass to Kevin Hayes who cut the Buffalo lead to one with a laser that got by goalie Jonas Johansson.
A couple of minutes later, Buffalo’s Brandon Montour (assisted by Tobias Rieder and Kyle Okposo elevated the puck over the shoulder of Brian Elliott to make the score 4-2 Sabres. Just after the Flyer’s third man advantage of the game, Claude Giroux found the net and the Flyers again cut the Buffalo lead to 4-3. Giroux scored from just in front while fending off a check. The Flyers pressed in the third period trying get the game tying goal. They finally capitalized when the Sabres’ Jeff Skinner went to the box for hooking Flyers Travis Sanheim. Shayne Gostisbehere scored the goal on a blast from the left point to make the score 4-4:
“I think it’s pretty obvious I’m healthy,” Shayne Gostisbehere says following the game. “When you are in a groove you’re in a groove.”
The Flyers killed off a penalty to Jakub Voracek and sent the game into overtime. The Sabres controlled the pick for almost 2 minutes straight in the overtime, but could not score. The Flyers had a number of good chances at the end of overtime, but Jonas Johansson stopped them cold and the game went to a shootout.
Sean Couturier went first and buried the puck into the left side of the net to give the Flyers the shootout advantage. Brian Elliott then stoned Rasmus Dahlin. Nolan Patrick then gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in the shootout with a chip shot into the right upper corner behind Johannsson. Casey Mittelstadt shot wide on his attempt and the Flyers won the game 5-4 in a shootout. The Flyers are now 12-7-3 on the season, and the Sabres fell to 6-14-4)
NEXT UP: The Flyers are off Wednesday, March 10th, but are back in action at the Wells Fargo Center against a very good Capitals team (15-6-4 on the season) on Thursday March 11th. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM EST on ESPN+ and NBC Sports Philadelphia.
