Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center began for the Philadelphia Flyers by honoring the past. The game was Erik Johnson‘s 1,000th in the NHL, securing the illustrious silver stick for the 2006 No. 1 pick and 2022 Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche.
But the celebration didn’t stop once the puck dropped. After an undeserved win on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, the Flyers returned to the complete form they showed for most of the previous three games. They were rewarded handsomely for their efforts, scoring two goals in the first and second periods. Though Ivan Fedotov’s bid for his first NHL shutout was spoiled halfway through the third, it didn’t subtract much from the team’s high-quality performance. The 5-2 win brings the Flyers to 4-0-1 in their last five games.
Game Recap
It was a bit of a slow starting Saturday night as neither team produced much in the first 10 minutes, even though the Flyers had a power play. When the Sabres seemed to be flipping the ice in their favor, Zach Benson took a slashing penalty chasing Rasmus Ristolainen in the Flyers’ zone. Philadelphia’s second unit, which had the better chances on their first man advantage, took the next step on their second chance. Tyson Foerster, one of the few Flyers to drive play on Thursday, jammed in a rebound goal for his first tally since Oct. 29, snapping a seven-game skid.
All period, the Flyers’ top line of Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny controlled the puck and created chances, with Travis Sanheim being on the receiving end of quite a few. After some big saves by Devon Levi and a few near misses, Sanheim blasted a one-timer home from the right circle for his second strike in as many games.
A fortunate break put the Flyers up 3-0 early in the second when Egor Zamula’s point blast bounced high in the air off Benson and floated into the Sabres net, with Levi unable to pick the puck up until it was too late. Any hopes for the Sabres to get back in the game were undone by strong work from Fedotov and two Rasmus Dahlin penalties during Buffalo power plays. The second one set up a 4-on-4 sequence where Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny handled a 2-on-0 to perfection to ease any doubt.
The Sabres broke the shutout on their next power play. Rather than take a penalty, Dahlin lit the lamp on the man advantage with a blast from the point. The Flyers otherwise played a strong defensive period, holding Buffalo to just six shots, their lowest single-period total of the season. Ryan McLeod snuck another goal when Fedotov lost sight of the puck in his crease, but the outcome was never in doubt. Konecny restored the three-goal margin with an empty-netter in the closing seconds.
The win brings the Flyers to .500 for the first time since the season’s second game. They’ll have ample opportunity to keep their winning ways going by continuing their five-game homestand, which started on Saturday. The next two challenges will be tougher, though, as the Flyers host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday two weeks after Carolina dominated puck possession in a 6-4 win over the Flyers in Raleigh. Buffalo will have time to lick their wounds with a three-day break before beginning their West Coast road trip.
