Postgame RAV4: Flyers Rattle Sabres, 5-2

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday evening. Five different Flyers players scored one goal apiece.

Buffalo scored first on a Jason Zucker power play goal (8th). The Flyers then exploded for three goals in 59 seconds on tallies by Travis Konecny (PPG, 6th), Trevor Zegrras (PPG, 10th) and Bobby Brink (7th).

Early in the second period, Noah Cates (6th) extended the lead to 4-1. Bowen Byram (6th) reduced the Philly lead back to two goals in the middle stages of the period. Owen Tippett (9th) restored the three-goal margin a few minutes later.

Samuel Ersson made 24 saves on 26 shots. Colten Ellis stopped 30 of 35 shots.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers broke up an early 2-on-1 rush for Buffalo. At 3:20, Cam York was called for a delay of game penalty. Zucker received a Josh Doan centering pass and scored from the low slot. The assists went to Doan and Josh Norris.

At 4:38, Matvei Michkov took an unnecessary interference penalty behind the Philly net. However, the Flyers ended up with a 5-on-3 for 44 seconds when the Sabres took back-to-back minors (Tage Thompson for hooking and Connor Timmins for cross-checking).

At 7:22, Michkov fired a shot on net through a Travis Konecny screen.

With the Flyers attacking 5-on-4, Konecny threaded a power play goal from inside the left point with Owen Tippett screening. Buffalo challenged the play for goaltender interference. The challenge was not upheld. The goal counted and the Sabres were assessed a delay of game penalty at 8:26. The assists went to Michkov and Travis Sanheim.

Philly made Buffalo pay for the failed challenge. At 9:04, Zegras measured a shot from the right circle off a cross ice feed from Sanheim. The assists went to Sanheim and Konecny.

The Flyers struck again at 9:25. Brink potted a Noah Cates rebound at the doorstep. Nikita Grebenkin earned the second assist on the Flyers' third goal in a 59-second span.

At 10:07, there was an active after-the-whistle scrum near the Philadelphia net.

Garnet Hathaway was taken down in front of the Buffalo net. One moment later, Rodrigo Abols was called for tripping behind the net. Sanheim was denied on a shorthanded 2-on-1 as the penalty expired.

With 19.6 seconds left in the period, Peyton Krebs high sticked Sean Couturier behind the Buffalo net. The Flyers took 1:41 of carryover power play time into the second period.

Shots: Flyers 11 - Sabres 4

Faceoffs; Flyers 7 - Sabres 10

Notable:

• Ersson faced only four shots on goal but the Zucker tally was nearly impossible to stop. He also made two tough saves.
• The Flyers went several power play faceoffs in the first period. That had been a frequent problem heading into this game.

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers were unable to score on the carryover power play but struck shortly after it expired. Cates went to the net and directed home a Brink feed from point blank range at 1:45. The assists went to Brink and Drysdale.

Two shifts later, Ersson stopped a 3-on-1 rush and a rebound at the doorstep. Later, playing without a stick, Ersson denied Tage Thompson.

A tussle broke out at 9:24 in the neutral zone, The Flyers got two minors (Nicolas Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway) and Buffalo one (Joshua Dunne), resulting in a Sabres power play.

Buffalo cut the gap to 4-2 at 11:48 on a shot from the right dot by Bowen Byram. The assists went to Alex Tuch and Jack Quinn on Buffalo's 13th shot of the second period.

On a nifty setup from Michkov, Tippett made it 5-2 at 12:42. Tippett was stopped on his initial try but batted the rebound home. The assists went to Michkov and Couturier.

At 16:50, Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin boarded Zegras behind the net. The play was reviewed for a major penalty and game misconduct. Dahlin was thrown out of the game for the late and excessive hit.

The Flyers took 1:50 of carryover power play time into the first period.

Shots: Flyers 12 (23 overall) - Sabres 14 (18 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 13 (20 overall) - Sabres 8 (18 overall)

Notable:

• The offense kept coming for Philly but the play got sloppy at times. Once again, despite the shot totals for the game, Ersson had to work for saves.
• Through two periods, Couturier was 12-for-16 on faceoffs

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Cam York did not return for the third period. His last shift came on the shift in which Dahlin boarded Zegras.

The Flyers did not score in the remaining time in the Dahlin major. At 2:46, Sanheim was sent off on a holding minor behind the net. The Flyers killed it off, but Michkov took a tripping minor in the defensive zone at 6:21.

Buffalo thought they cut the deficit to 5-3 at 12:51. From near the net, Thompson scored. The Flyers challenged the play for an offside and the goal was disallowed.

Shots: Flyers 12 (35 overall) - Sabres 8 (26 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 11 (31 overall) - Sabres 7 (25 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nicolas Deslauriers – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Egor Zamula

Samul Ersson
[Dan Vladar]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV4 THINGS REVISITED)

1. Reset the process

Entering this game, the Flyers needed to correct various issues that contributed to Monday's 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh: special teams, puck management, opportunity reads, opposing chance suppression, goalie rebound control, etc.

Wednesday's game wasn't spotless for the Flyers but it was clearly a big improvement in emphatically avoiding back-to-back losses.

2. Scoring by committee.

With Tyson Foerster out for two to three months with an upper body injury, it became even more crucial for the Flyers to get offensive contributions from around the lineup. On Wednesday, Philly did that in spades.

3. Opportunity for Grebenkin

Nikita Grebenkin moved up from fourth-line left wing into the top nine group at 5-on-5. Against the Sabres, Grebenkin had four hits and an assist.

4. Fourth-line left winger Deslauriers

Rick Tocchet elected to go with rugged veteran winger Nicolas Deslauriers over Carl Grundstrom for this game. On Wednesday, "DLo" had five hits and two shots on goal.