Friday, April 8, 2011
Posted: 10:05 p.m.Updated: 11:48 p.m.
By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
BUFFALO -- It was a maddening ending on so many levels.
Out on the Island, you had the Penguins momentarily kicking the Flyers out of the Atlantic Division lead by winning in a shootout against the Islanders.
Here at HSBC Arena, you had a spin-a-rama goal by Buffalos Nathan Gerbe to tie this game, then a four-corner stall to force overtime because all the Sabres needed was a single point to clinch a playoff spot -- not a victory.
And then the heartbreak:
NHL
A breakaway goal from Thomas Vanek to seal the Flyers' fate in a 4-3 OT loss.
Vaneks goal doomed the Flyers, who now cant finish higher than second in the Eastern Conference and will need a victory against the Islanders in their regular-season finale Saturday just to clinch the Atlantic title and preserve the No. 2 seed.
Washington clinched the No. 1 seed in the East, while the Flyers could still plummet to fourth overall.
All of this, Danny Briere said, because the Flyers had sluggish starts, particularly the final two periods.
We lost the game in the first three minutes of all three periods, he said. All three starts were terrible. Cut the first three minutes and we dominate. All three times we just werent ready to start the game.
Theres lots of positives, yes. Overall, it was a pretty good game, but at the end of the night, its still a loss. Were still in good position because were in control of our own destiny for second place by winning tomorrow.
But its so frustrating. Were not looking at positioning as much as trying to get rolling for the playoffs.
Truth is, the Flyers had a good start in the opening period, but not the second when their 1-0 lead became a 2-1 deficit in just four minutes.
And not in the third when Sergei Bobrovsky had to make a number of saves to protect a 3-2 lead before finally losing it midway in on Gerbes surrealistic backhanded spin-a-rama in the slot.
It was very unfortunate, said defenseman Sean ODonnell, who was on the ice near Gerbe with Danny Syvret. You could try that 20 times and the odds of scoring? Paul Gaustad went to the net and I went with him, and just for a split-second, we both crossed in front of Bob and the shot goes off the post and in.
Unlike the loss in Ottawa, this was a fiercely-contested game. Yet with so much as stake, the Flyers still wilted at crucial moments.
The second period, those first two shifts we got scored on and I wasnt very happy about that, said team captain Mike Richards. They came out with a lot of jump and we seemed casual with the puck and it ended up in our net.
We created a lot of chances and had a lot of good looks at the net, killed penalties at big times and Bob made some big saves to keep us in the hockey game. It was right there for us. It comes down to Saturday. We have to have a short memory.
The Flyers began the third period leading 3-2 while Buffalo replaced starter Nathan Enroth with Ryan Miller, who is coming off a right collarbone injury and had missed four games.
Bobrovsky, who was sharp, had a couple of sliding saves to stem the Sabres early momentum that period, including a post-to-post cover of Gaustad.
With 14 minutes left, Sabre defenseman Steve Montador left an errant drop pass. Jeff Carter scooped it up for a partial breakaway, but didnt get off a quality shot as he was angled out of the play. That could have been a clinching goal for the Flyers.
Instead, Gerbe tied it soon after with his highlight reel goal which was his second of the game.
Theres no question we needed points and there were positives and things we could do better, coach Peter Laviolette said.
To have that lead going into the third period. I dont want to say it was a fluke play, a spin around backhand on a 2-on-2 that had eyes and found its way. That was a tough one. I thought a lot of our guys played hard.
Players talked about the need to come out with their playoff faces on. The Flyers did just that, playing a strong opening period that ended with a lead going into intermission.
Briere dug a puck out behind the net at 10:24 and fed Scott Hartnell in the left slot for a wrister high under the cross bar on Enroth for a 1-0 lead that carried into the second period.
Buffalo pushed hard to start the second with tip-in goal from Gerbe at 25 seconds, followed by a five-hole marker from Jason Pominville, who came off the bench and out of nowhere, to stun Bob for a 2-1 lead.
Right there, the Flyers could have quit, but they responded with two goals in 39 seconds to forge ahead, 3-2.
After giving up three power play goals in Ottawa on Tuesday, the Flyers penalty killers got one back with a shorthanded goal from Kris Versteeg at 7:37 to tie it.
The very next shift, the Flyers got another rush into the Sabres end with Hartnell again feeding Briere, who slapped through, making it a 3-2 game.
In the neutral zone I saw that it was a 2-on-2. I was yelling at Scotty to get
the puck to my side, Briere said. When I saw his little spin-o-rama move I was in shock a little bit.
But what a great play on his part. After that when he gave me the puck, which I guess was a payback for first goal that he scored, I was just trying to put it on net and the puck found a hole.
Briere had a goal and an assist. In six career games as a Flyer in this building he has four goals, four assists for eight points, plus a shootout game winner. His goal Friday gave him a career-high 33.
Bobrovsky saved the Flyers in the final ticks of that second period when he stopped Pominville on a breakaway.
That should have been a momentum save going into the third period, but the start to that period was flat, as well.
We finished the first period pretty good, guys were jumping on loose pucks, and winning battles, said Claude Giroux, who played with a touch of the flu.
Coming into the second period, we stopped playing, were on our heels and guys werent jumping as much. We didnt help Bob tonight.
We need to find a better way to help our goalies. We wanted to keep first place alive in the conference but now its in the past. We have to move on.
The Flyers and Penguins each have 104 points. If theyre still tied after Saturday, the Flyers win the division on the tie-breaker (non-shootout wins).
So, the division title and second seed remains on the line at the finish. Last season against the Rangers, a playoff spot was on the line in the shootout in the final game.
We got to win a game tomorrow, Laviolette said. Where it ends up we dont know.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net
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