The Philadelphia Flyers’ Samuel Ersson earned his first career shutout as they took down the Buffalo Sabres 4-0.
The Flyers scored 3 goals in the first period thanks to Zack MacEwen, Joel Farabee, and Noah Cates. Wade Allison added a fourth tally in the third period, Ersson made 28 saves which included 23 in the final two periods, as the Flyers overcame a very tough loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs just last night. Their tired legs showed in the second half of the game, which was when Ersson really shone but they played a strong game throughout and truly earned their first shutout of the season.
Looking to put last night’s destructive loss in the rearview mirror, the Flyers entered tonight’s game with their head coach wanting and expecting more. The Flyers kept their lineup intact from forwards to defensemen with Samuel Ersson getting the nod on the back-end of the back to back. It could be seen as a surprising move but Tony DeAngelo, who only skated 7:01 last night, and Morgan Frost whose turnovers led to 2 goals, remained in the lineup without further admonishment.
The Sabres came into tonight looking to extend their 2 game winning streak, were 8-2-0 in their last 10, and had Tage Thompson who was 5th in the NHL in points and 3rd in goals. Rasmus Dahlin is also having a fantastic season with 44 points, which is third best for defensemen around the NHL.
FIRST PERIOD
2:04 into the game, the fourth line that looked dangerous last night, connected for the first goal of the game in typical fashion. With Zack MacEwen rushing towards the net, Patrick Brown quickly centered a pass for the bruiser who notched his 4th goal of the season for an early lead.
The Flyers held a 6-0 shot advantage in the first 7 minutes and their aggressive nature was also able to draw a penalty as Peyton Krebs was called for a tripping minor 7:04 into the period. The Flyers registered a few shots but it was another underwhelming man advantage. The Sabres had a breakaway with Krebs coming out of the box – similar to a meeting from last year – but Samuel Ersson followed him the whole way and made the key stop to keep the lead at 1.
The Flyers kept their skates on the pedal as a turnover led to Joel Farabee ripping a snap shot past an unbalanced Craig Anderson with 6:29 remaining. With the Flyers trying to traverse the neutral zone into the offensive zone, Travis Sanheim poked a puck forward that should’ve been routinely held by Owen Power but the puck jumped over his stick to Farabee who made no mistake for his 9th of the year. That save that Ersson made on Krebs a few minutes before turned out to be that much more grand than we initially thought. Konecny also extended his point streak to 9 games with an assist on the play.
1:27 later Noah Cates finished off a rebound opportunity to increase the lead to 3. Dylan Cozens turned the puck over in the offensive zone as he tried an ill-advised pass to Alex Tuch. Travis Konecny received a pass from Farabee, made a move into the crease that was initially stopped by Anderson, but the rebound was deposited by Cates who registered his 5th of the season. What also shouldn’t be forgotten was the forechecking by Cates that led to the turnover as he hounded 2 different Sabres before coughing it up.
The Flyers entered the first intermission with probably their best 20 minute effort of the season with a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard, a 16-5 shot advantage, 27-9 shot attempted advantage, and taking no penalties as Tortorella’s words quickly sank into this bunch with the way they started.
SECOND PERIOD
57 seconds into the second period, the Flyers received their second power play of the game after Mattias Samuelsson was called for a hooking minor. The Flyers kept the pressure on in the first minute as they kept the puck in the offensive zone and forced a few turnovers before the penalty was called. They created a few chances but Anderson responded well after the shellacking in the first period.
The Sabres gained some life midway through the period after a Flyers offensive zone turnover. They spent a solid minute and a half in the zone with several cracks at the net but Ersson had all the answers as he batted away all 4 scoring chances thrown his way – including a high-danger one-time shot by Tyson Jost after being fed by Kyle Okposo from behind the net.
With the tired legs starting to rear their ugly head, the Sabres started to come wave after wave, shift after shift with chances up the wazoo. Alex Tuch had a yawning cage to shoot at but lifted the puck high and wide. Then Casey Middlestadt, Zemgus Girgensons, and Tyson Jost each had a crack at the young Swede who stood his ground time after time to keep the Sabres off the board.
The Flyers ended the first 40 minutes up 3-0, had a 29-17 shot advantage in the game and a 13-12 edge in the second period, and still had no penalties up until that point. Samuel Ersson had a strong second half of the period with the Sabres looking really dangerous but he had all the answers.
THIRD PERIOD
1:56 into the third period after winning the offensive zone draw, Kevin Hayes sent a pass into the blue paint for Wade Allison who made no mistake on the redirect for his 5th of the season. Scott Laughton won the draw cleanly, which allowed Hayes to quickly corral the puck and send a pass to Allison who was left unmarked and untouched.
After a near perfect setup by Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee was slashed on a breakaway as the Flyers were awarded their third power play of the game. Konecny sent an outlet pass off the boards to a streaking Farabee, his shot was stopped as Anderson shut the five-hole but Kale Clague slashed the forward before his shot with 12:35 remaining in the period. With a 4-goal lead the Flyers weren’t pressing or as aggressive as required but they did register a few shots on goal at the tail end of the man advantage.
With 6:30 left a scrum ensued in front of the Flyers goaltender as the Sabres tried jamming a puck past Ersson as he had it covered. Out of everything that happened, the Sabres earned their first power play of the game with Konecny and Sanheim receiving roughing minors versus Dahlin from Buffalo. The Sabres had some chances but the Flyers kept them to the outside for most of it as the shutout remained intact.
The Flyers finished off the game in style this time for their rookie netminder, who lost his shutout with 40 seconds in his last start against the Anaheim Ducks.
After a strong showing the first period, the Philadelphia Flyers kept the Sabres offence quiet for most of the game with Samuel Ersson cleaning up the mistakes.
UP NEXT
The Flyers host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center in the first game of a home-and-home series.
