From the Flyers’ standpoint, perhaps the best thing to say about their clunker Monday night against Buffalo was this: At least they get a chance to redeem themselves when they meet the Sabres again on Tuesday.
Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar scored two goals apiece as the young, quicker Sabres chased goalie Carter Hart in the second period en route to a 6-1 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
The turnover-plagued Flyers were denied a 3-0 start for the first time in 10 years as they were thoroughly outplayed from the outset. They beat Pittsburgh -- and shaky goaltender Tristan Jarry -- in each of the first two games.
“Our decision-making with the puck wasn’t good enough and that feeds to the other team’s transition,” coach Alain Vigneault said after the Flyers were outshot, 36-22. “... If I’m a player and part of the coaching staff, which I am, I’m embarrassed by how we played tonight. I’m happy we can get right back at it [Tuesday] and prove what type of team we are.”
Buffalo, which has the NHL’s longest playoff drought (nine years), is now 1-2 after starting the season with consecutive losses to Washington. The Sabres are not expected to be an East Division playoff contender this year, but they made the Flyers look outmatched.
Buffalo goalie Carter Hutton, 35, a former Flyers farmhand, was rarely tested, and Nic Aube-Kubel ended his shutout bid with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left in the game.
Reinhart scored two goals in a 2:53 span early in the second period to put the Sabres ahead, 3-0. Lazar made it 4-0, taking a feed from Riley Sheahan through a maze of players and knocking a point-blank shot into an open net with 11:51 left in the second.
Exit Hart, who allowed four goals on 22 shots. Enter Brian Elliott, who is scheduled to start Tuesday’s rematch.
Taking a pass from Taylor Hall, Reinhart scored a power-play goal from an odd angle near the left end line, giving Buffalo a 2-0 lead with 16:25 left in the second. The Sabres got the power play because of a tripping penalty on Hart.
Less than three minutes later, after defenseman Phil Myers lost a puck battle near the left boards, a wide-open Reinhart took a feed from Jack Eichel and scored from the slot to make it 3-0.
In the opening period, the Sabres won most of the board battles, outshot the Flyers, 11-4, and took a 1-0 lead.
The Flyers had little zone time, had more turnovers than Termini’s, and lacked any kind of zip as they were outskated in the first 20 minutes.
The Flyers were fortunate Hart had a strong first period or they could have been down by three goals.
Buffalo had a handful of odd-man rushes in the period – including a two-on-none after Erik Gustafsson’s neutral-zone turnover -– but didn’t convert.
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead when fourth-line center Lazar scored on a well-placed backhander from the left circle that caromed off the far (right) post and past Hart with 4:08 left in the first. He scored against the Flyers’ new top line, centered by Kevin Hayes. (The line was moved to No. 1 because of an injury to Sean Couturier.)
Morgan Frost made his season debut and, in the first two periods, centered Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny for the Flyers, who swept a two-game series against visiting Pittsburgh to start the season. Frost, 21, who replaced Couturier (rib injury), played solidly.
Not many Flyers did. Now they get to meet the same Sabres on Tuesday.
“It’s payback tomorrow. It’s really nice we can play [Tuesday],” Aube-Kubel said. “We don’t have to stay on that loss too long.”
Looking for a spark, Vigneault juggled his top three lines in the third period, and he also moved Travis Sanheim to the top defensive pairing with Ivan Provorov.
It didn’t work. Buffalo added third-period goals by Henri Jokiharju and Victor Olofsson (power play).
“Buffalo should get a lot of credit. They played a strong game and made a lot of the right plays,” Vigneault said. “They made us look very bad on the ice. Without a doubt, this was a team loss.”
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