Hart, Flyers blank Sabres

In Buffalo, the Sabres continued their routine swan song in the first three months of the new year, no matter the schedule or landscape.

Carter Hart #got the shutout for  the Philadelphia Flyers

On Sunday afternoon, Carter Hart made 28 saves  to shut out the Sabres, 3-0.

“This weekend was huge for us, we played really well,” Hart said. “Outshot Buffalo both games, almost 80 shots in two games for us (77), so that’s a huge step in the right direction, getting more pucks on net. I thought we played really well both games and we just got to continue this Tuesday against [the] Pittsburgh [Penguins].”

James van Riemsdyk had a goal for the Flyers.

Alain Vigneault picked up his 700th NHL win.

“I’ve been very privileged. I’ve worked for great organizations, just look at who I’ve worked with and who I’m working with now,” Vigneault said. “I’ve worked with some great [general managers], some guys that really had my back and worked with me. Those GMs gave me some real good teams, and I was very fortunate to be able to pick my staff and have some good staffs; I’ve had some great coaches that I’ve worked with. You put all things together and you get to the number that I got a couple games ago, 1,300 (games), and, because I had some good teams I was able to get the 700 (wins). Working on that one thing that I don’t have yet (Stanley Cup championship), and I’m going to continue to work real hard for that.”

Sean Couturier and Michael Raffi scored for the Flyers for a 2-0 lead.

“I think all three of us are pretty smart players,” Couturier said. “I think all three of us, we just complement each other. When one guy needs to forecheck, he does it and the other guys back him up. Right now, it’s clicking, and hopefully we can keep this rolling for a while.”

Jonas Johansson made 35 saves in the loss.

“Very embarrassed,” Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin said. “This is not acceptable. It [stinks]. It’s the worst.

“It all comes down to competing. Work for each other, be a good teammate. Right now, we have nothing to lose. … Someone has to step up and make a hit, make a play, I don’t know. We have to find something. But it all comes down to work for each other and we have to start competing.”