Flyers hold off a stampede, edge Buffalo 5-4

PHILADELPHIA, PA – If you were expecting a low scoring playoff series between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres after Game One of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, well guess again. The Flyers came back to even the series at 1-1 after a 5-4 win. The Flyers had five different goal scorers while Thomas Vanek had a two goal night for Buffalo.
The Flyers got off to a quick 1-0 lead when Claude Giroux scored when he skated down the right wing and cut back into the middle of the ice. He fired a quick wrist shot into the corner of the net four minutes into the game. The Sabres came back with a power play goal by Vanek who was parked to the left of starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at 6:43.
Dan Carcillo made use of his 6:49 worth of ice time when Kris Versteeg took a shot that Ryan Miller made the save on but left a rebound to his left and Carcillo, who was at the top of the crease, slammed home the puck for a 2-1 Flyers lead at 7:20.
Vanek made the Flyers pay again on the power play when Bobrovsky was caught out of position and Vanek came down the middle of the ice to tap home a shot to tie the game at 2-2. The insanity continued in the first period Andrej Sekera shot the puck from behind the Flyers net and put the puck off the back of Bobrovsky for the 3-2 lead.
The goal chased Bobrovsky from the net and Brian Boucher came in relief off the rookie at 12:30. Bobrovsky made only four saves on seven shots. From then on the game quickly changed in favor of the Flyers. James Van Riemsdyk tied the game at 3-3 only 44 seconds after Sekera’s goal and changed themomentum of the game.
In the second period Ville Leino blasted a shot past Miller for a 4-3 lead on the power play. Danny Briere quickly made it 5-3 when Matt Carle’s shot from the point went off Briere’s skate less than two minutes after Leino’s goal.
The Sabres put a ton of pressure on the Flyers net and it eventually paid off with a goal by Cody McCormick who backhanded a shot near the Flyers net to cut the Flyers lead to 5-4 with 13:48 remaining in the game. Buffalo continued to wreck havoc in front of Boucher the rest of the night but could not convert on the rest of their chances the rest of the game.
The game had very little flow to it overall as both teams had a steady parade to the penalty box. The Flyers went 1-8 while Buffalo went 2-7. The Sabres won 53% of their face-offs and were led by Rob Niedermayer (69%).
Games Three and Four are set for Buffalo on Monday and Wednesday night. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com