Buffalo Sabres Able To Take Flight Against Flyers

Feb 15, 2015; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman

(47) takes a shot on a power play during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Sabres started out strong in the first period and were able to draw first blood.  It didn’t last for long as the Philadelphia Flyers were able to tie it up only a couple of minutes later.  Both teams took the tie into the 1st intermission.

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Brian Gionta comes out early in the second period and puts the Sabres back into the lead with a goal within the first minute of the period.  Unfortunately, this was not the only goal in the period, Philadelphia scored as well to tie it up a couple of minutes later.  The second period ended with the score 2-2.

The third period started off with a power play for the Sabres.  Nothing came from it and most of the rest of the third period had some very questionable calls that did not go in the Sabres favor.  Although even with the bad calls there was no scoring by either team taking the game into overtime.

The overtime period also ended as the third period did without any scoring, so we headed to a shootout.

The first round of the shootout had Jakob Voracek and Brian Gionta both scoring for their teams.  The second round saw both Claude Giroux and Zemgus Girgensons stopped on their attempts.  Wayne Simmonds and Tyler Ennis were both stopped in the 3rd round.  Sean Courtier was stopped in the fourth round but Brian Flynn was able to score on his attempt to give the Buffalo Sabres the win and the 2 points.

Honorable Mention:

Zach Bogosian was, again, physical for the Sabres and showed why he was brought in to Buffalo.  He is able to play the body as well as start the rush out of the zone.  His shot is not too shabby either. He finished the game with 6 hits and 7 blocked shots.  He also finished with a career high in minutes for the game with 32:23.

The other honorable mention will go to Brian Flynn who has his second shootout goal winner this season.  In the 4th round, Brian Flynn was able to get one past Ray Emery and give the win to the Sabres.

Nicolas Deslauriers graces everyone with his 5th goal of the season and the first goal for either team on the night.  He opened the scoring and gave the Buffalo Sabres the lead a couple of minutes into the game.

Brian Gionta was able to break the tie early on in the second period to have the Buffalo Sabres go up 2-1.  With that goal Gionta also has collected his 500th point in his long career.

Michal Neuvirth was on point to night and kept the Buffalo Sabres in the game, especially in the third period when there were many point blank shots that he was able to come out on top.  Neuvirth deserves the first star tonight for his consistent strong play for the entire game.