Flyers goalie Brian Elliott hopes escape in Buffalo serves as a wake-up call
The Flyers, badly outplayed over the first 40 minutes, needed a late rally Monday to overcome a 3-0 deficit and defeat lowly Buffalo in overtime, 4-3.
It was an inartistic win, to be sure, but the Flyers are looking at their 4-3 comeback victory Monday in Buffalo as a game that will snap them to attention.
“Hopefully, it’s a little bit of a wake-up call,” veteran goalie Brian Elliott said after Tuesday’s practice in Buffalo, where the teams will meet again Wednesday. “The first couple periods, we kind of threw our sticks on the ice and maybe thought it was going to be easier.”
The Flyers were frustrated after their win. Imagine how the Sabres felt about blowing a 3-0 third-period lead and suffering their 18th straight loss.
“This whole stretch is embarrassing, especially tonight,” Buffalo defenseman Brandon Montour said after his team’s late collapse. “Any team in the NHL, I don’t care who you are, that’s a win.”
The Flyers, who gave Elliott his 250th career victory, won it when Ivan Provorov took a slick pass from Travis Konecny and finished off a two-on-one just 42 seconds into overtime.
Buffalo dominated most of the first two periods and built a 3-0 lead. The Flyers got third-period goals from Kevin Hayes, Claude Giroux, and Sean Couturier, the latter coming with their goalie pulled and 1 minute, 29 seconds left.
“We should be coming out like we did in the third period right from the start,” said Elliott, who is expected to make his third straight start Wednesday. “I think everybody realizes that and the execution is what we have to get down.”
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The Flyers won a game after overcoming a third-period deficit of at least three goals for the sixth time in franchise history.
They are now 6-9-1 in March, having allowed 4.3 goals per game during the month.
Coach Alain Vigneault was asked if he thought the Flyers needed to trade for a defenseman to have a better chance of reaching the playoffs.
“I think I need to get this group of defensemen, forwards, and goaltenders to play better,” he said. “[Monday] is an example. In the first two periods, Buffalo was the better team on the ice. In the third, we were able to come back, which is a positive and not easy to do in this league.”
In 16 March games, the Flyers have been outscored, 25-9, in the first period.
Breakaways
Vigneault said he was leaning toward keeping Giroux, Couturier, and Jake Voracek together as a unit Wednesday; he reunited them late in Monday’s second period. … Vigneault said he was waiting to hear about the availability of a few players for Wednesday. … Oskar Lindblom, Nolan Patrick, and Joel Farabee (team-high 14 goals) were benched Monday in the third period and overtime. … Scott Laughton got engaged a few days ago. “One of the best days of my life,” he said. ... Buffalo’s penalty kill is 13-for-14 against the Flyers this season. ... Elliott has a 17-2-2 career record against the Sabres.