Riding a four game losing streak, all four of which came against two 50 plus win teams, and another vying for a wild card slot, the Flyers needed to catch a break and re-discover their game.
The lowly Buffalo Sabres may have been just what the doctor ordered.
First things first, we’ll recap the losing streak, which began last weekend with a much ado about nothing affair between the Flyers and the top Eastern Conference seed, the Boston Bruins. The Flyers may have been overmatched on paper or when counting team wins on the season, but they battled hard, all the way through the contest, and took the Bruins to overtime before losing. Despite the loss, the Flyers took home a point for their labor, and with each point precious in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Flyers couldn’t be displeased with themselves.
They followed that game with an epic goalie showdown against the Western Conference’s top contender, the St. Louis Blues. Flyers backup goalie Ray Emery and Blues tender Ryan Miller dueled each other the entire game, and it took the shootout for anyone to even score. Having lost that game, 1-0, the Flyers collected another point.
Then came the Columbus Blue Jackets, along with Vezina winner and former Flyer goalie of the future, Sergei Bobrovsky in tow. Bob wheeled and dealed his way to a shutout against Philly, 2-0, and in this contest the Flyers started to display a real struggle with scoring. Worse yet, they didn’t have the same fire in them during the third period they have shown throughout the season.
It wasn’t until Saturday’s matinee affair against the Bruins once again that gave Flyers fans cause for concern. Having lost three straight, the Flyers once again looked like they had some fight in them even after giving up the lead early on. They managed to tie the game 2-2, until the third period reared it’s ugly head. Once being the comeback kids, they wound up thrashed by the Bruins, and eventually losing 5-2.
So four games, and only two points to show for it. Not good for a team that had it’s destiny in its own hands, now trailing the New York Rangers. They had five games remaining and a couple of those are tall orders.
This game however, was not one of them.
The Buffalo Sabres have been nothing short of an absolute train wreck this season, having traded their third captain in as many years, and no longer possessing their franchise goalie in Miller. It’s an incredible youth movement occurring in Buffalo, and with youth comes inexperience. The Flyers, being a young team themselves surely recognize the similar path the Sabres are trying to take, but needed to take advantage of the situation to get out of the funk they were in and back in the playoff race.
They didn’t take long when Matt Read buried a nice rebound wrister past Sabres starting goalie Nathan Leiuwen, who wound up the duration of this game flopping about like a fish out of water trying to keep Buffalo in it, despite being a rookie and having virtually no defense in front of him. He was strong enough to keep the Sabres in it through the first, with Buffalo going into the second trailing only 1-0, and having only five shots on goal against Flyers starter Steve Mason.
The second would be the unraveling against the Sabres when the Flyers posted another three unanswered goals, the first of which from Zac Rinaldo, renown for his hitting prowess and agitation skills than his offense. Brayden Schenn would up it to 3-0 later in the period, on a slick put back, and Vincent Lecavalier who has suddenly gotten hot, would pot one for himself.
End of two, Flyers 4, Sabres 0.
The third would deliver interesting results. Five minutes into the last period, Zac Rinaldo skated over at high speed and clipped a shooting Chad Ruhwedel with his elbow against Ruhwedel’s skull. It was a viscous and utterly unnecessary hit, and Rinaldo’s night would end on it. Giving the Sabres a five minute major to work with, they managed to nullify Mason’s shutout bid when Cody Hodgson scored three minutes into the power play. It’s not fair to bash Rinaldo for this, but it is most definitely fair to say that given his earlier flashes of offensive talent, he always seems to find a way to disappoint those who root for him. He has since gone on record as regretting the hit, and has taken responsibility for his actions, and earlier today he received a 4 game suspension, thus ending his regular season run. Ruhwedel suffers from concussion symptoms due to the hit, and I have to agree the punishment was deserved.
Brayden Schenn would answer Hodgson’s goal with yet another, running the score to 5-1,
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