Vigneault quietly lets vets sink or swim against Sabres
Frustrated beyond belief, the Flyers down three goals to the worst team in the NHL, coach Alain Vigneault refused to go into the dressing room for the second intermission.
Four goals later, the last one by Ivan Provorov 42 seconds into overtime, Vigneault was glad he didn’t, and his players found the way themselves with a 4-3 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
It was Provorov’s second winner in overtime in a fiveyear career.
“A few guys spoke said captain Claude up,” Giroux,
who netted one of the Flyers’ goals. “Scott Laughton, Justin Braun and a few of the other guys. We have leadership from more than two or three guys. I think sometimes the message is just a little louder. We were able to have probably our best period of the year in the third period. Hopefully. we can build on this.”
Vigneault stuck with his veterans from late in the second frame the rest of the way, using a core group of nine forwards down the stretch. Sean Couturier and Giroux both played more than 21 minutes, Jake Voracek and Laughton 19 minutes.
Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom and Joel Farabee were anchored to the bench.
The Flyers (17-13-4, 38 points) stayed within a few points of a playoff spot thanks to those efforts and the work of Kevin Hayes, who scored the team’s first goal less than two minutes into the final frame and Sean Couturier, who tipped in a shot to tie it.
Skating six-on-five, the Flyers packed the Sabres’ crease to get the equalizer with 1:29 left, Couturier tipping it either off or just past James van Riemsdyk’s stick. Neither would care who got credit.
The goal came seconds after the Sabres’ Tage Thompson missed the empty net on a lunging one-hand shot off a partial breakaway.
The Sabres (6-24-4-16) tied a dubious NHL record by going winless in their 18th straight game. They share the standard with the 2003-04 Pittsburgh Penguins, 18 winless and counting.
Provorov had a stellar game, as he blocked a puck from leaving the zone with his chest to set up Giroux’s goal. Provorov also scored the winner on a backhander in the extra session, capping a night in which he played a game-high 26 minutes.
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott was wicked in the third period, stopping 10 shots. Elliott is 16-2-2 in his career against the Sabres.
The victory gives the Flyers success in back-to-back games for the first time since they defeated the Sabres in back-to-back games on the road in late February.
No one is baffled more by the Flyers’ slow starts than Provorov.
“I don’t know,” Provorov said. “The next game we should think that we’re down 3-0. Then maybe we’ll have a good start.”
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The Flyers trailed, 1-0, at the first intermission and former Flyer Scott Hartnell, the NBC SportsNet analyst, suggested Vigneault go ballistic during the intermission.
“I’d break a stick, do something to wake them up,” Hartnell said.
When the lead grew to 3-0 after two periods, Cody Eakin and Brandon Montour tallying for the Sabres, intermission host Taryn Hatcher asked Hartnell about Plan B.
“Go splash some water on your face and look in the mirror,” Hartnell said. “It’s frustrating, the lack of urgency, the lack of fight.”
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NOTES » The Flyers signed forward Max Willman to a two-year, two-way contract worth $750,000. … Couturier leads the Flyers with six points (three goals, three assists) in the season series with the Sabres, two of the tallies game-winners. It’s his fourth straight game with a point.