POSTGAME 5: Two Points the Hard Way

Playing a struggling Buffalo Sabres team they had shut out three straight times and which was missing top center Jack Eichel, the Philadelphia Flyers had to scramble before skating to a 5-4 victory via shootout at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. The Flyers overcame deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 in regulation.

The Flyers struck fast, as James van Riemsdyk (11th) goal of the season but then succumbed to their own loose defensive play and inability to get clutch saves. Sam Reinhart (10th and 11th) sandwiched a pair of even-strength goals around a Riley Sheahan rebound goal (3rd) as Buffalo took a 3-1 lead to the first intermission.
A Kevin Hayes goal (9th) off a gorgeous backhand pass by Scott Laughton narrowed the gap to 3-2 early in the second period. Buffalo defensive defenseman Brandon Montour (1st) restored a two-goal margin on a deflected shot. Claude Giroux (4th) got Philly back within 4-3 on a tip-in from a saucer pass from Jakub Voracek. In the third period, Shayne Gostisbehere (power play, 4th) got the game knotted.
After a scoreless overtime, the game moved to a shootout. Couturier elected to shoot rather than deke and scored inside the left post. In the second round, Nolan Patrick attacked with speed and scored high to the glove side. Neither Rasmus Dahlin (stopped by the pads) nor Casey Mittelstadt (made a move, tucked the puck wide) scored on their attempts.
Carter Hart lasted just one period, giving up three goals on eight shots. BrIan Elliott went the rest of the way, stopping 11 of 12 shots. Jonas Johansson denied 29 of 33 shots in regulation and OT . The Sabres, who spent much of the game in their own end of the ice also blocked 24 shots for their goalie.
TURNING POINT
The first Reinhart goal opened the floodgates for the Eichel-less Sabres after getting shut out three straight times by the Flyers. The Flyers ended up having to chase the game after Buffalo scored twice more in the first period. Philly had to work very hard to get the game knotted, before Gostisbehere's point shot blast tied the game through traffic on the power play.

MELTZER'S TAKE
1) An early warning sign in the first period came as the Flyers got hemmed in their own end mid-change on the opening shift of the game. A good keep by Travis Sanheim started a tic-tac-toe hookup from Sean Couturier to Farabee to goal-scorer van Riemsdyk at 1:56. On the ensuing center ice faceoff, Scott Laughton got judo flipped on his head by Curtis Lazar. There was no penalty or response. Laughton eventually returned to the game. Philly had multiple scoring chances the remainder of the wide-open period but couldn't bury another one. Buffalo also came up with several blocked shot to break up scoring chances.

2) Defensively, the Flyers played very loosely in the first period and paid the price. Reinhart took a pass from Dylan Cozens and scored high to the far (glove) side on Hart at 4:33. At 9:39, the low-scoring Sheahan backhanded home an Eric Staal rebound in the slot after a jam play. At 16:39, the Flyers were guilty of puck watching as Reinhart took a Taylor Hall (2nd assist of the period) pass at the right hash marks and beat a shell-shocked Hart high to the near (glove again) side at 16:39.
3) The Flyers doubled up Buffalo in shots in the second period, 12-6, but were unable to score on three power plays, However, they scored twice at even strength, with the latter coming right after a power play ended. Laughton and Voracek, respectively, made beautiful set up passes, which Hayes and Giroux (via tip-in) potted to twice narrow two-goal deficits to one.

4) Defensively, however, the Flyers continued to have plenty of nervous moments despite Buffalo getting a modest six shots in the second period. Philly nearly gave a goal right back after the Giroux goal, and the team was guilty several times of sloppy play. On the Montour goal, scored from the left side boards, Gostisbehere deflected the puck upstairs and it beat Elliiott under the bar at 6:20.
5) After a jittery start to the third period that saw the Flyers take an icing and go offside in the opening minute, Philadelphia started to attack in waves. Buffalo blocked quite a few shots but Johansson stayed very busy. With 6:54 left, Sanheim created a power play for the Flyers. At 14:14, a Gostisbehere point blast through traffic tied the game at 4-4. The assists went to Couturier and Farabee. Voracek was called for tripping with 2:24 remaining in regulation. Aggressive defensive sticks, a vital blocked shot by Provorov and a zone clear near the end by Provorov enabled the Flyers to get the game to OT. Shot attempts through regulation were 67-34 in Philadelphia's favor.
In OT, Giroux made a vital stop in the defensive zone and Couturier was unable to score on a breakaway. The Sabres then had an extended period of puck possession, repeatedly peeling back to the neutral zone. The Flyers had the late possession edge.