Richards has career night as Flyers roll past Sabres

by Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine

Mike Richards recorded a career-best five points on two goals and three assists, and Mike Knuble earned the game-winner late in regulation as Philadelphia rallied past Buffalo, 6-3, at the Wachovia Center.

Glen Metropolit, Braydon Coburn and Darroll Powe also lit the lamp for the Flyers, who have won three in a row and five of their last six. Philly also improved to 20-1-2 when scoring first.

Martin Biron stopped 39-of-42 shots to post his fourth straight win.

Jaroslav Spacek scored twice and Derek Roy contributed the other goal for the Sabres, who have dropped four of their last six games.

Ryan Miller was tagged for four goals on 34 shots in the loss.

Despite unleashing 14 shots on goal in the third, the Flyers didn't emerge with a lead until 6:09 left in regulation. Simon Gagne dished into the crease from behind the net, where Knuble buried the chance from in close.

The tally gave Knuble 20 on the year, the sixth straight year he's reached the mark, while also becoming the fifth Flyer to score at least 20 for the season.

Richards then hit the empty net with 42 seconds to go to cap off his career night and Powe added another with just under 10 seconds remaining.

Metropolit deflected a right-wing shot from Arron Asham to put the Flyers up a goal with 7:18 left in the first period. Richards picked up a secondary helper on the tally.

Biron slowed but was unable to stop a Spacek shot from the slot and it was 1-1 at 3:16 of the second.

Capping nearly a minute of pressure in the Sabres zone, Coburn blasted a shot by Miller off a dish from Gagne for a 2-1 Flyers lead at 8:57.

Already on the power play and awaiting a delayed penalty, Spacek managed to get a rising shot through traffic and over Biron's glove for a 2-2 game with 7:49 left in the second.

Richards then converted a 3-on-2 short-handed rush with 5:57 remaining, tipping a Kimmo Timonen lead pass and chipping it off the right pipe and behind Miller. It was his sixth short-handed score in 2008-09, tops in the NHL.

Buffalo knotted the score again, with 30.1 seconds to go, as Drew Stafford's stuffer worked loose and Roy's poke in the crease got the puck over the goal line. The Flyers' captain wasn't a threat to score on that series, as he took a penalty for goaltender interference to set up the visitors' goal.