Sabres' surge started after beatdown by Flyers

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Posted: 3:44 p.m.
By Bob MatuszakCSNPhilly.com Contributor

BUFFALOIt was the middle of January, and the Buffalo Sabres were in the midst of trying to turn around a sour season in which they had already fallen to the bottom of the NHL a couple of months earlier.

After posting four wins in five games following a players-only meeting after a loss in Calgary on Dec. 27, the Sabres seemed to be righting the ship as they returned home from a west coast road trip.

Enter the Flyers, who were just as hot as the Sabres when the two teams met at HSBC Arena on Jan. 11. The Flyers were on top of the Eastern Conference standings as they skated into Buffalo, and were riding a three-game winning streak.

Prior to the game, the Flyers had learned that Claude Giroux would be the lone representative of the team at the All-Star game, leaving Danny Briere behind. Though the diminutive centerand former Sabre stalwartwould say otherwise, the snub seemed to put a little extra hop in his step against his old friends that night.

The Sabres picked up where they left off out west, and jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead over the flat Flyers, who came in having won seven of their last nine road games, and 11 of the last 15 overall.

Buffalo then seemed poised to stretch its lead in the middle frame, but rookie Sergei Bobrovsky kicked out all 15 shots sent his way, and Briere knotted things at 2-2 with a goal late in the middle stanza.

Philadelphia then scored three times in the third to cap a 5-2 comeback win, with Briere posting four points in the contest.

The game was a strong dose of reality for the Sabres, who dropped to 18-19-5 with the loss.

It showed us that we had to do better with leads, forward Jason Pominville said this week while the team prepared for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Thursday in Philadelphia. At times this year weve given away leads when we were so good with them last year. But that game showed what type of team they arethey can turn things around in a heartbeat. There were a couple of turnovers that they capitalized on right away, and they were right back in the game and ended up winning the game. Thats the type of firepower they have.

Defenseman Tyler Myers saw that firepower firsthand. He was a minus-2 in the game, and coughed up a game-high four turnovers.

We were disappointed after that game, especially with that 2-0 lead, Myers said. We had a lot of situations like that this year where we had the lead and blew it. But there were also a lot of times this year where we had the lead late in the game and managed to stay strong.

Following the Flyers game, Buffalo indeed began to play firmer with the advantage. The Sabres wrapped up the season by going 11-2-2 in games in which they staked themselves to a first-period edge.

We had that game (against Philadelphia) in hand, we just made a couple of mistakes, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. They took advantage of some good offensive situations. It was nowhere near a blowout. It was a game that we let slip away.

Since that Flyers loss, the Sabres also went on a tear that ultimately landed them in the seventh slot in the East. They finished the year on a 25-10-5 stretch following the Philly meltdown, including winning their final four games of the year and nine of their last 12 to secure a spot in the tournament.

After that Calgary game we kind of sat back and some guys had a few things to say, forward Drew Stafford said. At the time we were saying that we still had a chance to do something special, and since then we went on a pretty good run. The feeling in here is that we played our way into the playoffs. Were playing well.

I think there were a lot of points this season where we were looking for some direction and looking for something positive to hold onto and establish ourselves, goalie Ryan Miller said. It took us a while to get going, but we finally got it going. Now were just trying to play a team game. I think weve played games a lot more simple than we were trying to make it earlier in the season.

After losing the first two games of the season series with the Flyers by a combined score of 11-5, Buffalo bounced back to capture the next two affairs, including a 5-3 win in March where the Sabres returned the favor and erased Philadelphias two-goal, first-period advantage.

The Flyers, if you give them opportunities, theyre talented and theyre skilled, Miller said. The thing we have to do is not give them any opportunities. We have to make them earn it. Itll be a very even series. Theyre the team that went to the Finals last year, and theyre the team that was picked by everybody to win the East this year. Theyve got a ton of talent, so were going to have to make them earn every little thing they get. The second you start handing them things, itll be a lot tougher on us.

The Sabres certainly were made aware of that just over three months ago.
Loose pucks
The Sabres practiced for less than 45 minutes on Wednesday before departing for Philadelphia in the afternoon.Forwards Mike Grier (lower body) and Patrick Kaleta (lower body) both skated Wednesday and appear ready, while defenseman Andrej Sekeras status (upper body) for Game 1 is still uncertain. Sekera skated Wednesday and is hopeful hell be able to play Thursday after missing the final two games of the regular season.The Sabres power play finished ninth in the regular season with a 19.4 percent success rate, but they also allowed 13 shorthanded goals, the third-most in the league.Buffalo averaged 3.22 goals per game over its final 45 contests.

Related: Are the Flyers truly ready to compete for the Cup?Flyers notes: Richards misses practice with cold

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