PHILADELPHIA, Pa- Last meeting just five short days ago, the Philadelphia Flyers welcomed the Buffalo Sabres to the Philadelphia for the final meeting this season.
Taking the 2-1 win on Sunday night, the Flyers hoped to take the series sweep for the second consecutive season.
It was a special night at the Wells Fargo Center as the Philadelphia Flyers organization welcomed Eric “Rico” Desjardins into the Flyers Hall of Fame prior to puck drop. In 738 games in a Flyers sweater, the defenseman tallied 93 goals, 303 assists for 396 points.
Named Flyers Captain in 2000, the Quebec native was a three time NHL All Star and holds the record for most trophies won in the Flyers organization, receiving the Barry Ashbee award seven times. Along with his many accomplishments, the inductee earned the Stanley Cup Champion title with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
“It’s a great honor, there’s no doubt about it,” said Desjardins prior to being inducted. “I was surprised a little bit when I got the call. For me, it’s a nice closure of my career. It means that I did pretty good for the time I was in Philly.”
After a warm welcome and standing ovation from the fans looking on, Desjardins stated, “I’ve experienced so many great things here. For me, I wanted to keep playing and end my career as a Flyer.”
Skating alongside Desjardins in his Flyers career, former teammate Chris Therien said, “Rico, you were my Wayne Gretzsky.” Therien also stated that Desjardins is the best defensive player in Flyers history.
Eric Desjardins was the 23rd Flyer to be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame.
With the emotional induction ceremony concluded, it was back to business.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Starting in between the pipes for the Buffalo Sabres stood Michael Neuvirth. Getting his fifth consecutive start for the orange and black, Ray Emery took his stance.
Striking first, Sabres forward Nicolas Deslauriers slipped the puck past the crease early in the period.
Beginning the rush into the Sabres zone, Braydon Coburn sent the puck towards Neuvirth. Finding Coburn’s rebound, Ryan White took the shot. Scoring his first goal in a Flyers sweater, White got his team on board.
As the first period came to a close, each team tallied a goal with shots even at 6.
Wasting no time in the beginning of the period, Sabres Captain Brian Gionta netted in his 6th goal of the season just 38 seconds into the period.
Guilty of interference, Zemgus Girgensons found himself in the penalty box, giving the Flyers their first man-advantage of the game. Snapping his goalless game streak, Jakub Voracek lit the lamp.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Rushing into the Flyers zone, Tyler Ennis found himself tangled up in the net with Emery. Sent to the sin bin for goaltender interference, the Flyers were sent back on the power play. With ample opportunities, the Flyers were unsuccessful.
As time clicked down to zero in the period, pushing and shoving broke out center ice. With a full line pile up covering the Flyers logo, Sabres Chris Stewart was the guilty party. Going on the power play with 13 seconds remaining, Flyers had one opportunity before time expired.
Leaving the ice tied at 2 to end the second period, Philadelphia would begin the third period with 1:47 left on the man-advantage.
On the ice for third period action, Flyers hoped to capitalize on the remaining power play time.
Sent to the penalty box with 34 seconds remaining in the Flyers man advantage, Brayden Schenn was guilty of tripping. With another unsuccessful power play the game continued on.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Tangled up in Buffalo’s zone, Sabres Torrey Mitchell and Flyers Captain Claude Giroux were sent to the sin bin for roughing. Both squads could not produce on the 4 on 4 opportunity.
Sneaking the puck past Emery with 5 minutes remaining, Girgensons goal was waived, keeping the game tied at 2.
Guilty of tripping with 57.2 seconds remaining in the period, Nick Schultz looked on.
With 60 minutes in the books and a winner not determined, free hockey was needed in Philadelphia.
Carrying over the remaining power play time into the five minute overtime, Buffalo had 4 on 3 advantage but did not come up with a goal.
Dominating overtime, Philadelphia had ample chances. The winner of the contest came down to a skills competition.
Image by Lewis Bleiman
Shooting first for Philadelphia, Voracek skated into Buffalo’s net. Sending the puck past Neuvirth, Voracek got the tally.
On deck for Buffalo, Gionta took his chance against Emery. Netting in the puck, each team had a goal each.
With two rounds and no goals, Sean Couturier took center ice. After stopping Couturier, Buffalo’s Brian Flynn had the game on his stick. Skating in on Emery, Flynn lit the lamp.
The Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Buffalo Sabres in the shootout, 3-2.
“They’ve been playing pretty good hockey, look at their scores,” said Captain Giroux. “All their games are one goal but it’s not an excuse. We need to find a way to get two points. We want to play good every game. We did a lot of good things out there. When they had chances, it was in the back of our net.”
Frustrated in how the game ended defenseman Mark Streit said, “It’s rough, it’s annoying. We seem to have a hard time against teams a little behind in the standings. Those points are crucial. We couldn’t find a way to get it done.”
Announced on Wednesday, the Flyers signed defenseman Nick Schultz to a multi-year contract extension. Rumored to be on the trading block for the last few months, Schultz signed a two year, $4.5 million deal. In the 2014-2015 season, Schultz notched 2 goals and 11 assists in 55 games.
Suffering from a knee injury against the Washington Capitals on February 8th, goaltender Steve Mason had minor knee surgery on February 8th. Speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon for the first time since injury Mason said,
“Right on schedule with what we were hoping for in recovery. I probably still have another week or two weeks to get back into a game, but I think we’re right on track. I skated Wednesday for the first time, and today was a scheduled day off the ice, just to let things calm back down. So far, things are going well.”
Mason is planning on traveling with the team to Toronto and Raleigh during next week’s road trip.
What’s up next? Former Flyers head coach, Peter Laviolette is heading to the City of Brotherly Love with the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon.
Puck drop between the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers is set for 1 p.m.
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