Claude Giroux shines in Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 win over Buffalo

The Philadelphia Flyers hit the road to take on the Buffalo Sabres in hopes of earning their 12th win of the season.

Looking to rebound from an overtime loss in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers faced another tough Eastern Conference team in the Buffalo Sabres. They entered this game without top-line center Sean Couturier, though, announcing hours before puck-drop that he will be day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Jordan Weal re-entered the lineup with Couturier out, and Claude Giroux filled the first center-man position. James van Riemsdyk and Travis Konecny completed the rest of the new look top-line. It was key for JvR to get his game going against Buffalo, riding a six game pointless streak coming into the game.

Anthony Stolarz received his fourth straight start from Head Coach Dave Hakstol, opposing Linus Ullmark in-net. Ullmark posted a 2.71 Goals-Against Average with a .921 save percentage before this matchup, but gave up four goals in his last start. The Flyers offense needed to take advantage, especially with somewhat of a lack-luster performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flyers defense was tested to begin the game and Jack Eichel took advantage of some poor transitional coverage to give Buffalo an early 1-0 lead. He went on to score another goal in the period on a deflection shot in front of the net, and Philadelphia found themselves facing another early deficit halfway through the first.

JvR cut into the Sabres lead with his second goal of the year, responding in a big way for the Flyers. They had a set-play drawn up on a face-off with Giroux and the goal scoring van Riemsdyk executing it to perfection. Team morale was obviously low after Eichel’s second tally, and cutting the lead to one helped build some energy for Philadelphia to end the period.

Stolarz made some big saves to keep the score at 2-1 early on in the second. He had really settled in after the two early goals from Eichel. Ivan Provorov finally came through for the Flyers on offense, netting his third goal of the year to tie the game at two. It was a very good sign to see Provorov bounce back from a bad first period defensively. He hasn’t looked like his 2017-18 self, and seeing a puck go in the net could be what he needs to get his production going this season. The teams each traded scoring chances to finish the period with the game still tied entering the third.

The Sabres received their first power play early on in the final period but Giroux was the one who took advantage, scoring a shorthanded goal to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. This was also Philadelphia’s fifteenth straight killed penalty in another impressive performance from the shorthanded unit. Wayne Simmonds increased the lead to two, banking the puck off of a Sabres defender passed Ullmark into the back of the net.

The scoring didn’t stop there, as Michael Raffl set-up Dale Weise with a beauty of a pass to give the Flyers a 5-2 lead. Travis Konecny potted his ninth of the year on a tic-tac-toe play with JvR and Giroux and Philadelphia eventually won the game 6-2.

Giroux was easily the best player for the Flyers in this victory. He had four points on the game and his shorthanded goal to take the lead was the turning point the team needed to blowout the Sabres. The play of Stolarz can’t be forgotten about, either, as he made 28 saves on 30 shots. Rebounding from the first two Buffalo goals was huge. He bailed out the defense time and time again before the offense erupted and Philadelphia wouldn’t have won without is play in-net.

The Flyers are now 12-12-3 on the season. Next game is Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets. .