Elliott’s spell on Sabres again leaves them at ground zero
By now almost everybody knows that goalie Brian Elliott gives the Flyers their best chance to beat the Buffalo Sabres.
Elliott shut them out Saturday for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career, with three different Flyers scoring in a 3-0 victory at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
The Sabres are 2-15-2 against Elliott. He dominates them the way Bernie Parent crushed the NHL during the Flyers’ back to back Stanley Cup championships in 1974-75.
Instead of sticking with the terminator, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault is adamant about rolling out Carter Hart for the getaway game in Buffalo Sunday, which was the blueprint coming into the series.
Sure, Elliott turns 36 in a couple of months and backto-backs are a challenge, but it would be huge to sweep the first series of the critical sixgames-in-nine-days stretch facing the Flyers. And yet...
“I’m sticking with the plan,” Vigneault said. “It’s the same thing as forwards and defensemen. We’ve got to be able to spread the ice time to do this. We have two very good goaltenders. We’re going to use both of them.”
When Hart watches the replay of the shutout, he might want to pay attention to the way Elliott managed the rebounds. Communication is a big part of it.
Elliott stopped 23 shots, barely more than half of what he turned away to blank the Sabres, 3-0, earlier this season in Philadelphia. Elliott realized if he held the puck,
Claude Giroux would win the accompanying faceoff. Giroux was 13-of-18 in the circle on the Saturday.
After three periods of that, the Sabres were in a trance. And they already were playing without starting goalie Linus Ullmark and captain Jack Eichel.
“I played with Ottawa,” Elliott said. “And you know, I have kind of a good feeling when you come into this rink. I wanted to keep that going. The guys played a great game in front of me.”
The way Elliott played, the Flyers could afford to be patient before scoring their first goal, Sean Couturier made it 1-0 with 5:37 left in the opening period, getting help as the puck redirected off the glove of Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour.
Elliott, code name “Moose,” took over the second period, stuffing Sam Reinhart on a 3-on-2 and minutes later, an unchecked Jacob Bryson from short range. Elliott held on to the rebound after the latter rocket and again on another save that’s bound for You Tube replays.
Tobias Reider blasted a shot that ricocheted off Elliott high into the air. It looked like a towering pop fly. Like an outfielder circling under it, Elliott stretched his arms out and gloved the rebound.
Elliott stopped eight shots in the period, and the Flyers counterattacked off some of those shots with backbreaking goals from Shayne Gostisbehere, who wristed the puck between goalie Carter Hutton’s legs on a breakaway with 5:27 left in the period and Scott Laughton, who burst into the offensive zone on a breakaway and backhanded the puck home for a 3-0 bulge. It was Laughton’s first goal since coming off the COVID list.
“It felt nice to contribute,” Laughton said. “Moose was huge for us tonight. He made a huge save at the end to save the shutout. He was big for us all game. He’s been big for us the last couple of years. When he’s out there he’s communicating and making it easier on our D. I think everyone knows what Hartsy brings. He’s so good. We’ve got a tough stretch coming up. It’s going to be a challenge. We need everybody going, not only the goalies.”
Elliott is 5-1 this season with a 2.33 goals against average. Hart is 5-3 with a goals against average of 3.68. Vigneault likes the way the Flyers have battled back to stay in the hunt in the East division.
“We mentioned a little bit prior to the COVID scenario that we were trending upwards,” Vigneault said. “Our game was picking up both ways, defensively and offensively. And I think slowly but surely we’ve stuck with the process and our game is getting better. Today I thought we had some real good looks, and we were able to capitalize. We got the save at the right time, obviously. But for the most part in the game we didn’t give up any second opportunities that are coming to my mind right now. So, it was a team effort, a team game and we need to get right back at it tomorrow. A couple of little adjustments I
think we need to make, and we’ll be better tomorrow.”
The adjustment the Flyers don’t need to make Sunday is in goal. But then again, who knows this team better than Vigneault?
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Vigneault’s record in 18 NHL regular seasons, including two with the Flyers is 699-460-35. AV is the fifthwinningest active coach and ninth on the all-time NHL list, one win behind Mike Babcock (700).
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NOTES » Defenseman Phil Myers was a healthy scratch. … The Flyers carried a 1-0 lead into the second period thanks to Couturier’s fourth goal of the season. They’re now 7-0-1 in games where they’ve led entering the second period. … Claude Giroux played in his 904th game with the Flyers, passing Hall of Famer Bill Barber on the all-time list.