A huge loss in Buffalo — Flyers lose 6th straight game
Apr 5, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov (82) makes a glove save during the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
The Flyers fell to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 in Buffalo Friday night.
This was a huge game for the Flyers, and they couldn’t find a way to get any points. Let’s recap the game.
First period
After dominating the first period, the Flyers trailed 1-0 heading to the second period. Tage Thompson will score at 10:01 assisted by Peterka and Alex Tuch.
The Flyers will outshoot the Sabres 10-4 in terms of shots. The domination from the Flyers will be in terms of SOG but also on scoring chances.
Second period
The Flyers overwhelmed the Sabres in the first part of the second period the same way they did in the first period. They finally broke through Luukkonen. Noah Cates will score the goal assisted by Tippett and York at 9:07.
After the Flyers’ goal, the Sabres took a timeout since the Flyers completely dominated the play. It is rare to see a timeout after a team ties the game at 1-1. The call from Granato will be a good one since the Sabres slowly found their game to take their lead back.
Dahlin scored from Thompson and Tuch at 14:51 left in the period.
Finally, late in the period, with 5.1 left, the Sabres took a 3-1 lead. This time it’s a goal from Quinn assisted by Benson and Power.
In terms of shots, it ended 13-8 for the Flyers.
Third period
It’s a huge period for the Flyers, fighting a playoff spot, a lot on the line for the final 20 minutes to try to come back from a 2-goal deficit.
Owen Tippett scored an important goal, with 9:19 left in the period assisted by Sanheim and Laughton. This was a huge goal for the Flyers and was only their second shot of the period.
The Sabres are a top team in the third period and allow the fewest goals per game in the third in the NHL. We saw the difference between the first two periods and the final one since the Sabres were not watching the Flyers this time, but putting pressure.
Nonetheless, the Flyers cut the deficit to one.
Few minutes after that Tippett goal, Quinn scored his second of the night assisted by Benson and Cozens to get the Sabres back to a two-goal lead with 13:59 left in the period.
The Flyers will try to come back but will fall shot.
A few notes from the game
The Flyers fell in a huge game for the playoff race. After getting a 3-day break and everything being said by the players and the coach during those days, we expected a big response from the Flyers.
We can’t say that it wasn’t the case, the Flyers played well with energy, but they couldn’t finish. On the positive side, both the Red Wings and Capitals lost in regulation. That means, the Flyers are still in the playoff race, and they will have a huge game in Columbus on Saturday to try to get back in the W column after losing 6 straight games.
On another hand, one of the main reasons the Flyers lost in Buffalo was because of Ivan Fedotov. He wasn’t being put in an easy situation but realistically he didn’t have a good first NHL game. We can’t start panicking just yet, he needs time to adapt to North America and the NHL but in this playoff race, we don’t have much time.
We will have to see if he will get another opportunity in those last 5 games. It’s most likely, but when will it be?
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