October 27, 2015

At the horn: Sabres 4, Flyers 3 (OT)

By Matt Mullin
PhillyVoice Staff

Man, these Flyers really like that new three-on-three overtime.

For the third game in a row, they needed extra hockey to find a winner. But unlike their last two outings, the Flyers (4-2-2) didn't come out on top, falling 4-3 to the Sabres on Danny Briere Retirement Night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here's what I saw in the loss:

Instant observations

• I had a bad case of deja-vu early in Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres. The last Flyers game I watched -- their come-from-behind overtime win over the Bruins last week -- included a pair of costly first-period mistakes by captain Claude Giroux. He made those same mistakes again against Buffalo. First, there was a turnover behind the Flyers net that led to the Sabres' first goal -- just like against Boston. Then, Giroux was called for a penalty (roughing) later in the period, leading to the Sabres' second goal.

The only difference, aside from it being a high-sticking double minor, rather than roughing, against the Bruins? The Flyers found themselves down two goals after the first period Tuesday, whereas they were tied 2-2 against the Bruins after 20 minutes. Oh, and Giroux scored twice in that game, including the game-winner in OT.

• Steve Mason was solid in net. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. He stopped 36 of the Sabres' 40 shots in the game, including 25 straight after allowing two first period goals. But just a minute and 24 seconds after the Flyers tied the game at 2-2, Mason allowed a redirect to get past him.

• Speaking of goals, this is a hell of an effort by Sabres forward Tyler Ennis for the first goal of the night, the one that came off the aforementioned Giroux turnover. After the game, Mason said he would have played it the same way again, and that it somehow just "found a hole."

This is nice from Tyler Ennis. pic.twitter.com/RTpg1mSQHo
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 27, 2015

• As for the Flyers, Brayden Schenn scored a pair of game-tying goals in the third period, including an empty-netter in the game's final minute. Here's the goal that sent the game into OT:

Hey. Thanks, @Bschenn_10. #BUFvsPHI pic.twitter.com/Ru8CjgOrxM
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 28, 2015

• Michael Raffl returned to the lineup for the Flyers after a scary incident during Saturday's win over the Rangers in which he blacked out and collapsed on the bench. He played a total of 17:05 minutes, so no worries there, and finished with one shot, two hits and no points.

• Although the Flyers got one forward back in Raffl, they lost one to injury as well. Early in the first period, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare left the game with a lower-body injury, per GM Ron Hextall, and did not return to the game.

• The Flyers continued their poor play against non-playoff teams. Sure, it's early in the season, but it's something worth keeping an eye on as those losses hurt them mightily down the stretch last season as they desperately tried to catch the Bruins and make a late playoff push.

#Flyers lost their last 12 games (0-7-5) last season to teams not in a playoff spot when they met. Carryover?
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 28, 2015

• Chris Vandevelde got his first goal of the season, and it looked a little something like this: