In Buffalo, Philadelphia’s Samuel Ersson made 28 saves to earn his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 win for the Flyers over the Sabres on Monday night.
Flyer’s goalie Samuel Ersson – Photo by Jack Lima
“Obviously, it feels great, first one,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s special, but the win is what matters, and that’s what you’ve got to take with you moving forward.”
Ersson is 4-0-0 since being called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League.
“I got three games there in a row, so it’s nice. I kind of got a feel of things and got into a little flow,” Ersson said. “Now taking a couple of games rest here, so it’s a little bit different, but it feels good. You always want to help the team win games and contribute.”
The Flyers improved to 16-18-7.
“[The Sabres] have got talented forwards, good group of ‘D’ that join up in the play,” Philadelphia forward Scott Laughton said. “I thought we did a good job of coming back through the middle, trying to limit their chances and make a lot of plays, but ‘Erssy’ was back there and made a couple of big saves for us.”
Buffalo dropped to 20-16-2.
“We didn’t come out the way we wanted to,” Buffalo forward Tyson Jost said. “We didn’t start well. Saturday night (a 6-5 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild) there was obviously a lot of energy in the building, and we were excited for that game. I think that’s just part of our learning process.
“We have to know that every single game is an important game and it matters. Every team in this league is an elite team, and anyone can beat anyone on any given night. We need to learn from this, for sure.”
The Flyers hit for three goals in the opening period with Zack MacEwen and Joel staking them to a 2-0 lead.Farabee
“Our first 20 minutes was … it was probably the worst period we’ve played all year,” Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo said. “You try and learn from it. We try and get going in the second and third. I just think the emotional toll of that first period was a little bit too much for us to come back from. Just disappointing with how we’ve been playing. Just a little bit of immaturity on our part, I think.”
Noah Cates finished off the first period outburst for a 3-0 advantage.
“Last night (a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs) was disappointing, but I think we all try to handle it the right way,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “It hasn’t happened that much during the year, just our intensity defensively, just how hard we play. We haven’t had too many nights that we’ve taken off, so I think the most important thing is it didn’t happen two nights in a row. So that’s the most important thing that comes out of tonight’s game.”
Wade Allison completed the scoring with a marker in the third period for the 4-0 final.
Craig Anderson made 34 saves in the Sabres loss.
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