Flyers overcome late 3-goal deficit and stun Buffalo in OT, 4-3; Sabres suffer 18th straight loss

The Flyers showed all the life of department-store mannequins for most of the first two periods Monday at the KeyBank Center.

But they woke up in the third period, overcame a three-goal deficit, and jolted the poor Buffalo Sabres as Ivan Provorov scored early in overtime to give the Flyers a bizarre 4-3 win.

The stunning turnaround gave Buffalo its 18th straight defeat, equaling the NHL’s longest winless streak in 26 years.

Just 42 seconds into the extra session, Provorov (two points, six shots) finished off a two-on-one pass from Travis Konecny and scored the second overtime goal of his career.

With Flyers goalie Brian Elliott pulled for an extra attacker, Sean Couturier scored on a deflection in front -- after the Sabres missed a shot at an empty net -- to knot the score at 3-3 with 1:29 left in regulation. That set the stage for Provorov.

“The urgency was there ... in the third period,” Claude Giroux said. “We knew if we wanted to come back, we had to play better, harder and smarter. But the way we played in the first two periods is very frustrating because it’s not the first time it’s happened.”

Buffalo, which blew a 2-1 third-period lead to Boston in its previous game, had a 4-2 third-period lead against the Flyers earlier in the month. The Flyers won, 5-4, in a shootout.

Provorov said he wasn’t sure “why we only start playing when we’re behind. Maybe for the next game, we should come out and think we’re down 3-0 and then maybe we’ll have a good start.”

Coach Alain Vigneault shortened his bench and went with three lines in the third period; he also put Couturier, Giroux, and Jake Voracek together late in the second, and they sparked the comeback.

“In the situation we were in, if you’re going to move forward and get the job done, your top players have got to be your top players,” Vigneault said. “We needed a push, we needed those guys to step up. ... I shortened up the bench, and the guys found a way to get it done.”

The win moved the Flyers within one point of Boston for the final East Division playoff spot; the Bruins have three games in hand.

Until they dominated the third period, the Flyers somehow made the wretched Sabres – who took an NHL-worst 6-23-4 record into the game – look like a quality team.

Outplayed for most of the first 40 minutes, the Flyers finally showed life early in the third as Kevin Hayes scored from the slot, cutting Buffalo’s lead to 3-1 with 18:10 left in regulation. Giroux made it 3-2 with 9:09 remaining, converting Couturier’s feed. About eight minutes later, Couturier tied it.

The Sabres had a “panic attack,” Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said, describing the third period.

“This whole stretch is embarrassing, especially tonight,” Buffalo defenseman Brandon Montour said. “Any team in the NHL, I don’t care who you are, that’s a win.”

Before the game, Vigneault said he was leaning on his leadership group, which is headed by his captain, Giroux, to make sure his players didn’t take the Sabres lightly.

They apparently didn’t get the message because Buffalo controlled the first period. The Flyers were outshot (13-8), outhustled, and outplayed as they fell into a 1-0 hole.

It marked just the eighth time in 34 games this season that the Sabres had a lead after an opening period.

A defensive breakdown that had all five Flyers skaters on one side of the ice led to the Buffalo goal, scored by all-alone defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who put a right-circle shot through the legs of Elliott with 2:19 left in the first.

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If not for Elliott, who notched his 250th career win, the Flyers would have faced a huge first-period deficit. He made saves on close-range shots by Tobias Rieder, Dylan Cozens, and Sam Reinhart.

The Sabres, who were without star center Jack Eichel (upper-body injury), continued to win puck battles early in the second period, leading to several scoring chances. Cody Eakin made it 2-0 as he scored on a one-timer from the right circle with 17:50 left in the second, putting a shot under Elliott’s glove to the short side.

A short time later, Elliott kept it at 2-0 by making saves on point-blank shots by Taylor Hall and Tage Thompson. But the Sabres kept swarming, kept finding seams in the offensive zone, kept getting to most loose pucks.

The relentless pressure led to another goal, this one a high shot from the slot by Montour that increased Buffalo’s lead to 3-0 with 7:17 to go in the second. Two of the Sabres’ goals were scored by defensemen who jumped into the play.

“They kind of took over,” said Couturier, whose team faces the Sabres again Wednesday. “We were forcing some plays and trying to be too fancy. That’s not the way we need to play if we’re going to have success.”

Added Couturier: “We’re happy to get the two points, but not satisfied with the way we played. We can’t put ourselves in that situation too often and expect to win many games.”

It marked just the sixth time in franchise history the Flyers won a game after overcoming a third-period deficit of three or more goals, per the NHL. The last time was in 2016, also against Buffalo.

Vigneault benched Oskar Lindblom, Nolan Patrick, and Joel Farabee in the third period and the overtime. ... In March, the Flyers have been outscored in the opening period, 25-9. They have been outscored in the first period by Buffalo, 4-1, in their two meetings this month. ... Provorov had 10 shot attempts and played 25:27.