Flyers bounce Buffalo

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Philadelphia Flyers made sure the Buffalo Sabres would not do to them what they did to the Sabres in Game 6, such as come back from an early deficit to win the game. The Flyers got goals from five different players and dominated Game 7 in south Philly for a 5-2 win and a date in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Flyers will have to awake the outcomes of Wednesday night’s games to find out who their next round opponent is but the wait will be worth it for the orange and black.
Goaltender Brian Boucher made the case as Flyers starter for the rest of the playoffs making 26 saves on 28 shots and for the first time in his career it was Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller getting the hook after allowing 4 goals on 28 shots. Jhonas Enroth came in relief and allowed a goal on 8 shots.
Still, Miller looked as though he could have been the first star of the game in the first period when the Flyers dominated play outshooting Buffalo 16-2 in the period. The sixteenth shot went in thanks to Braydon Coburn’s first goal of the playoffs by taking what looked like an innocent shot from the point that somehow made its way between Millers’ pads for a 1-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the period. From that point on it was all Flyers on the scoreboard.
Danny Briere kept up his scoring magic in the playoffs scoring his sixth of the tournament when he slammed home the puck just to the right of Miller after Claude Giroux’s shot from the right point came right over to him all alone for the 2-0 lead.
James Van Riemsdyk kept up his scoring ways as well by tipping a shot from Chris Pronger at the left point that Miller did not see from Van Riemsdyk’s screen. The goal was Van Riemsdyk’s fourth of the playoffs.
Ville Leino made sure Buffalo’s comeback attempt would not become a reality by blasting a shot from the left wing wall over Miller’s left shoulder and effectively ended Miller’s night. After the change in goal would play better the rest of the night getting goals from Tyler Myers and Brad Boyes but when Dan Carcillo is scoring a goal from his backside for his first of the playoffs you know it’s not your night.
“There is a lot of character in that room,” said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. “You have guys like Mike Richards who did a terrific job defensively for us. Chris Pronger comes back and Danny Briere always raises his level. He [Briere] is a playoff player statistically over his career. Claude Giroux has really started to spread his wings and JVR has started to take off.”
“Kimmo Timmonen flies under the radar. Brian Boucher comes in time and time again. There is a lot of character in that room and guys that have been together for a long time. What was most impressive to me was coming back off of Game 5 and getting back in Game 6.”
Just as important was the home crowd which Boucher acknowledged the importance of having the fans behind them for Game 7.
“Yeah, it’s just nice to win. You play hard all season long to try and get home ice in a situation like this and I think it was all the advantage in the world tonight. It was a good, solid victory from start to finish.”
As they did in every game this series the Sabres won the face-off battle winning 52% of them. This time however they did not win the special teams battle going 1-6 while the Flyers went 2-4.
Two Game Seven’s will be played on Wednesday night. The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadians play will battle it out in Boston and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. If Boston wins their game the Flyers will take on the Bruins. If the Canadians win the Flyers will play the winner of Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. In either scenario the Flyers will have home ice advantage for the series. The Washington Capitals came into the playoffs as the number one seed in the conference while the Flyers finished second so the Caps have to play the lowest remaining seed in round two. Boston finished the three seed while Pittsburgh finished fourth and Tampa Bay fifth. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com