Anyone get the feeling that you had seen this movie before?
The Buffalo Sabres rode a strong second period to take a 3-0 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the second time this season. However, unlike their first meeting, the Sabres were able to hold on to the lead this time, winning by a score of 4-1 over the Flyers.
The Sabres jumped all over the Flyers in the second period, and while the shots ended at 13 a piece at the end of the period, the Sabres led the Flyers 6-1 in scoring chances and capitalized on three of them. Sam Reinhart stayed hot by opening the scoring on the powerplay on a chance created by beautiful puck movement at the top of the zone. William Carrier added his second of the year by capitalizing on a juicy rebound while crashing the net to make it a 2-0 game, and Evander Kane scored his 10th of the year with only eight second left in the period to make it 3-0.
Reinhart ended the night with three points, adding assists on Kane’s goal and Marcus Foligno’s empty net goal to make it 4-1.
Anders Nilsson also turned in another excellent effort as he turned away 39 shots of the 40 the Flyers threw at him, including 14 in the third to lock down the two points for the Sabres. His shutout bid was ended late in the third by a powerplay goal off the stick of Brayden Schenn.
“I felt really comfortable today. I think we played a solid game defensively, kept them to the outside lanes, made it easier for me.” – Anders Nilsson
Despite not making it on the scoresheet, Jack Eichel had a gem of a game, including a nifty move and pass to set up Reinhart for what easily could have been his second of the game.
The biggest difference between tonight’s victory and the Sabres’ collapse in the teams’ first meeting was definitely the ability of the Sabres to stay out of the penalty box this time around, especially in the third period. A few late third period powerplays really swung the tide toward the Flyers in the first meeting, but tonight, despite taking a penalty and giving up a powerplay goal late, they only took two penalties, which allowed them to outplay the Flyers at five-on-five a good portion of the game.
The win now gives the Sabres points in four straight games, and seven of their last eight potential points. That puts them within five points of the Ottawa Senators for third place in the Atlantic Division and seven points of the final wild card spot, currently held by the Flyers, who also have three games in hand on the Sabres.
The Sabres will look to keep their strong play going when they faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night in Tampa. Puck drop is at 7:30pm.