Sabres end 18-game skid with win over flat Flyers
BUFFALO, N.Y. » Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots and the Buffalo Sabres snapped an 18-game skid — the NHL’s longest in 17 years — with a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.
Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was the first off the bench as the final horn sounded and led a line of Sabres players high-fiving Ullmark in an arena without fans.
It was the first win for Buffalo since a 4-1 victory at New Jersey on Feb. 23, and ended an 0-15-3 streak. The slump was tied for the league’s 14th longest, and worst since the Pittsburgh Penguins had a 0-17-1 stretch during the 2003-04 season.
The Sabres also snapped a 0-9-2 home skid, one short of matching a franchise record set during the 1990-91 season. Buffalo won for just the third time at home, and first since a 4-3 shootout win over the Devils on Jan. 30.
Steven Fogarty scored his first career goal and added an assist, and defenseman Brandon Montour sealed the win by scoring shorthanded goals 37 seconds apart, the first into an empty net.
Two nights after squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to Flyers, the Sabres showed no signs of lingering after-effects.
Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar scored 2:27 apart in the opening period to stake Buffalo to a 2-0 lead. After Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov scored 3:50 into the second period, Buffalo responded by closing the period with goals from Fogarty and Casey Mittelstadt.
Mittelstadt’s goal, a softie which beat Brian Elliott through the legs, chased the Flyers goalie after he allowed four goals on 16 shots.
Coming off consecutive wins for the first time in a month, the Flyers’ inconsistencies turned up again in dropping to 6-10-1 in their past 17. The slump has dropped them into fifth in the East Division.
With Carter Hart relegated to
practice-only duty to see if the third-year starter can shake off a season-long funk, Alex Lyon finished the game for the Flyers in his first appearance of the season. He made nine saves on 10 shots.
Gostisbehere Stays
The Flyers placed Shayne Gostisbehere on their taxi squad after the regular defenseman cleared waivers earlier in the day. Coach Alain Vigneault said the team made the move to free up space in order to allow forwards Oskar Lindblom and Nolan Patrick to get a much-needed rest.
The Flyers used the free spot to call up forwards Connor Bunnaman and Carsen Twarynski and defenseman Sam Morin.
“I think for them mentally and physically, it’s going to be beneficial and it’ll be beneficial for our team,” Vigneault said.