By Dan Di Sciullo
After six games of hard-fought playoff action, the Flyers and Sabres will resolve their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a decisive Game 7 tonight at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.
Buffalo had a chance to end the series Sunday on its home ice, but the Flyers came back from a pair of two-goal deficits to record an overtime victory and send the series back to Philadelphia.
Although this is the ninth all-time playoff series between the Flyers and Sabres, tonight's test will mark the first-ever Game 7 between the clubs.
Philadelphia is 8-6 all-time in Game 7s, including a win over Boston in last spring's conference semifinals. Of course, the Flyers had trailed three-games- to-none in that series against the Bruins and Philly was also able to come back from a three-goal deficit in Game 7.
The Sabres are 1-5 in Game 7s and have lost their last two times in this situation.
Buffalo is trying to get past the first round for the first time since it went to the conference finals for the second straight season in 2007. The Flyers, meanwhile, are hoping to go on another deep postseason run after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals last year before bowing out to Chicago.
The second-seeded Flyers can thank Ville Leino for a chance to play tonight's game. The forward scored the game-winner 4:43 into overtime, shoving in a loose puck to lift the Flyers to a 5-4 victory in Game 6 at HSBC Arena. It was the second straight game to end in OT after Buffalo claimed Game 5 on a Tyler Ennis tally.
Kris Versteeg's second shot from the high slot appeared to hit teammate Mike Richards, who stood on the left edge of the crease, and bounced to the right side.
Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller spotted the puck and dove to get his glove on it, but it was too far away by inches. Leino whiffed on his first attempt to get his stick on the puck as it settled to the ice, but connected on his second to give the Flyers the win.
"I'm tracking it to make sure it doesn't get through, and it goes right through a guy," Miller said. "That's overtime."
Former Sabres co-captain Danny Briere scored twice for Philadelphia, which had its backs against the wall after dropping Games 4 and 5.
Scott Hartnell tallied the equalizer in the middle of the third period, while James van Riemsdyk also lit the lamp for the Flyers, who fell behind in Game 6 after Michael Leighton gave up three goals on eight shots in the first period.
Brian Boucher stopped 24-of-25 shots the rest of the way, but the performances only kept Philadelphia's postseason goaltending carousel spinning. The Flyers have used three starting netminders during this series -- Sergei Bobrovsky , Boucher and Leighton.
Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette has decided to start Boucher in Game 7.
Meanwhile, Miller has played every minute at goaltender for the seventh-seeded Sabres and faced 49 shots Sunday, stopping 44. Both Boucher and Miller are 0-1 lifetime in Game 7s.
Thomas Vanek had two goals in Sunday's loss, while Rob Niedermayer and Nathan Gerbe also scored.
Flyers top defenseman Chris Pronger played on Sunday for the first time since early March, but he was only used on the power play and finished with 4 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time. Pronger had missed the last 16 games of the regular season and the first six tilts of this playoff series with a broken hand.
Pronger may have helped Philadelphia record its best power-play performance of the series in Game 6. After going 2-for-26 on the man advantage in the first five tests, the Flyers scored twice on five power-play opportunities in Game 6.
Flyers forward Jeff Carter, who led the club in goals during the regular season, will miss his third straight game with a sprained right MCL.
The Sabres have no shortage of injury concerns heading into Game 7 either, but the club will get centerman Derek Roy back this evening for the first time since late December.
Roy was expected to be out for the season when he tore his left quadriceps tendon on Dec. 23, but Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said the veteran is a go for tonight's all-important test. Roy had 35 points (10g, 25a) in 35 games before suffering the injury.
Roy's return will help offset the recent loss of key forwards Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville, who are both expected to miss tonight's game. Pominville sat out Sunday's test after he was injured in Game 5 when his leg was cut by the skate of Philadelphia's James van Riemsdyk.
Connolly sustained an upper body injury in Game 6 after a controversial hit by Flyers captain Mike Richards. Richards was given two minutes for boarding Connolly late in the second period on Sunday, but the NHL has decided that the hit did not warrant a suspension.
Buffalo forwards Mike Grier and Patrick Kaleta are also questionable for tonight with undisclosed injuries.
The Flyers are 2-14 all-time in series that they have trailed three-games-to- two. Buffalo is 5-1 all-time when it leads a series by a 3-2 margin. The Sabres have a 2-0 series record when holding a three-games-to-two lead over the Flyers.
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