Sabres come through, down sliding Flyers

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

For the fourth time in the last five Flyers home games, the visiting club did just enough to be one goal better than the hosts.

Jason Pominville notched the go-ahead goal at the 6:37 mark of the third period and Nathan Gerbe added a late empty-net score to duel Buffalo's 5-3 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

Pominville, Andrej Sekera and Tyler Ennis all posted a goal and assist each for the Sabres, who trailed 2-0 early in the second period but rebounded to record their fourth win in six games (4-0-2) in pursuit of a playoff berth.

“I’m playing guys that are going the best. We are trying to win hockey games, and that’s what I’m going to keep trying to do,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of his club's resurgence despite having forward Derek Roy miss the rest of the regular season. 

Ryan Miller, who at times showed an alarming inability to control the puck that included a delay-of-game call for shooting the disc into the stands, did enough to get the win, stopping 33-of-36 shots.

Kris Versteeg and James van Riemsdyk hit the net for the Flyers, who have dropped three straight games and still have a tenuous hold on first place in the Eastern Conference.

It will be a swift turnaround for the slumping club, with a Sunday afternoon game at Madison Square Garden looming against a Rangers club coming off a solid 4-1 win at Ottawa on Friday, and who are trying to stay one step ahead of Carolina, Buffalo and Toronto for one of the bottom playoff seeds.

Kimmo Timonen notched his 100th career goal, a short-handed tally, in the loss, Philadelphia's fourth one-goal home loss in the last two weeks.

"We're playing teams that are battling for their lives, and they are going to be desperate and play with a lot of determination and desire, and we have to match that if we want to win hockey games," said Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger.

Pominville put the Sabres ahead for good early in the third period, when he got a step ahead of the defense, took a Thomas Vanek pass in stride and pushed it through Bobrovsky's pads from atop the crease.

The Flyers got a gift almost two minutes later when Miller, with no players near him, shot a dump-in right over the glass in the Buffalo end. Despite several close calls, the home team failed to convert.

Bobrovsky was called to the bench for an extra skater for the final 1:25, but Gerbe, a diminutive winger out of Boston College, sped ahead of Philly checking to score into an empty net with 1:04 remaining.

It was much better news for the Flyers in a spirited first period.

The Sabres could have seized momentum with a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage before the midway point of the opening 20 minutes, but Bobrovsky came up with two key stops, then smothered a Brad Boyes tip on the back end of the power play.

Up a man shortly thereafter, the Flyers got on the board. Mike Richards controlled the puck in the slot and slipped it over to Matt Carle in the right circle. He sent a weak backhanded pass through the crease, where it ended up on the stick of Versteeg who was wide open in the left circle to post his third score in the last two games.

It was 2-0 for the home side at 17:22, when van Riemsdyk stripped Tim Connolly in the neutral zone and glided down the right wing. He used Jeff Carter as a decoy on the odd-man rush, cut to the net near the goal line and lifted a backhander over Miller's shoulder and under the crossbar.

But, in a grim replay of lapses from the past three seasons, the Eastern Conference leaders allowed the Sabres to get back in the game in a three-minute span near the midway point of the second period.

Stafford halved the Buffalo deficit on the power play at 6:52 when he finished off a passing play between Vanek and Ennis from the slot, and Ennis tied the game on a dump-in from the goal line near the left boards at 8:48.

Sekera capped the run at the 10:32 mark. The offensive-minded defenseman followed up his original chance from the right side, skated around the opposite side of the net and lifted a backhander through traffic and home.

Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette pressed the pause button, taking one of his patented time-outs. It didn't pay off until Versteeg was sent off on a questionable slashing minor, taken when he tried to poke the puck through Miller's pads as the whistle blew play dead.

Capping more than 30 seconds of pressure in the Sabres' zone, a visibly tired Braydon Coburn lucked into a failed clear near the right boards at the blue line. He wheeled around and sent the puck to a trailing Timonen, who was all alone in front to stick his shot by Miller with 6:37 left in the period.

Notes: Richards has assisted on each of Versteeg's last three goals...Boyes notched his first multi-point effort since being acquired earlier in the week from St. Louis...Buffalo has won three of its last four games in Philadelphia...Vanek and Gaustad each posted a pair of helpers for the Sabres...The Flyers notched their 11th short-handed tally of the season...Prior to the contest, the Flyers assigned forward Ben Holmstrom to Adirondack off the AHL...Philly hadn't dropped three consecutive regulation games since October 14-21.