Despite a 5-game point streak against some top teams in the league, the Flyers fell in an embarrassing 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Despite a dominant first two periods, things fell apart in the third just enough to allow Buffalo the win.
Although the Sabres won the majority of faceoffs and scored first in the opening period, Noah Cates responded less than a minute after the Sabres’ opening goal to tie things up. Overall, the Flyers played strong hockey, made good plays, and maintained possession of the puck. They were the better team by far, which they should have been compared to the .515 point % Buffalo Sabres. The second period started much the same, with a fantastic feed from Zegras earned Cam York his second goal of the year, his first since returning from an injury last weekend against the Carolina Hurricanes.
A scrum in front of the net at 11:18 seemed to be the turning point of the game. On a shot by Michkov, he was seemingly cross checked into Sabres and former Flyers goalie Alex Lyon. Despite Michkov ending up face-down on the ice and continuing to be hit in the back, he received a goaltender interference call. It all seemed to be downhill from there for the Flyers.
Minutes later, a pathetic turnover from Travis Sanheim placed the play directly in the hands of Rasmus Dahlin, who made a between-the-legs pass to Tage Thompson in an undeniably outstanding play for the Sabres. The Sabres tied the game all the while Flyers’ captain Sean Couturier stood at center ice. This move from the Flyers veteran has caused immense frustration amongst fans. It was not a very captain-like move and is the exact opposite of the example this gritty, young team needs. Couturier, who just hit the 900 game milestone on December 7th, has had a slower year and has been known for giving up quite a few plays so far.
With less than 30 seconds left in the second period, Noah Ostlund sent a slapshot from nearly the blueline past Ersson to give the Sabres their first lead of the game.
The downhill momentum from the final minutes of the second continued to ring strong in the third. Josh Norris was able to score on a Buffalo powerplay, growing the Sabres’ lead 4-2. Konecny was able to put the Flyers back on the board with yet another late goal, yet it was not another comeback win. Despite the Flyers having the opportunity to return as contenders, they gave up any chances and Ryan McLeod scored with 8 seconds left in an empty netter goal to give the Sabres the final 5-3 lead.
Zegras continued his point streak, now having 8 points (4G, 4A) in the last 6 games. On the other hand, Couturier played a slow game all around and Zergas’ typical partner in crime, Christian Dvorak, earned a -2 on the night. Yet this doesn’t boil down to any 2 players in specific. The most worrisome part of any one player’s performance wasn’t Couturier’s performance; it was his lack of effort and poor example as the captain of a young, developing team. Yet the real issue was the simple lack of effort in the third period. This team seems to need better conditioning, as they are completely unable to play a consistent game. Yes, they typically play hard, yet it never lasts. That’s one thing with the amount of effort it requires a young team to be competitive against top teams such as Carolina, yet it’s a completely different story against bottom-10 teams like the Sabres. While they’ve held on enough at other times to secure points, this was not the case last night.
The Flyers continue their brief road trip on Saturday afternoon for a 12:30pm puckdrop against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Philly's Next Shift 