Final Flyers Thoughts: Dominant performance earns shutout win in Buffalo

The Philadelphia Flyers are starting to click. They beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Saturday afternoon after a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

The Flyers had four players return to the lineup from the COVID list: Justin Braun, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, and Jakub Voracek. All four of them played pretty well for the Flyers.

Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbhere, and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers. Couturier was the lone Flyer with multiple points in the game as he picked up an assist on Gostisbehere’s goal.

Brian Elliott stopped all 23 shots he faced in his second straight win. It’s also his second straight shutout against the Sabres.

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Justin Braun was tested right away and was able to keep Curtis Lazar to the outside. He was in the lineup and on the second pair instead of Philippe Myers, who was a healthy scratch.

The third line had some nice jump to start the game. Jakub Voracek controlled the puck nicely in the offensive zone and created a chance from the slot for Scott Laughton. They kept that up all game long.

The Sabres got their league-best power play on the ice in the first period. They had some zone time, but nothing got past Elliott as the Flyers took away some lanes.

Then the Flyers opened the scoring.

Travis Sanheim pinched up the wall nicely and set up Sean Couturier for the opening goal.

It was a good play and gave the Flyers some momentum. The second line had a great scoring chance on their next shift and drew a penalty.

They nearly made the Sabres pay. Couturier’s power-play unit had some great puck movement and just barely missed on a chance.

But the power play went 0-for-2 in the first period.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to Sanheim setting up Couturier. Also thanks to Elliott, who made six saves in the period.

It wasn’t a perfect period by the Flyers, but they were the better team.

That continued into the second period when the Flyers really took over.

It wasn’t a great first half of the period, but the Flyers went to work in the second half.

After a penalty kill, Laughton made a good decision to make a move and get the puck on net while entering the zone on a 1-on-4 situation.

The Flyers had another great chance with the second line on the ice. Patrick showed off his skill to control the puck and set up Giroux.

Then, after putting the pressure on, the Flyers finally extended their lead to 2-0.

JVR sent a pass in space to Gostisbehere, who beat Hutton on a breakaway to put the Flyers up 2-0.

It was a much-needed and well-deserved goal for the Flyers, who dominated the second period.

And they weren’t done.

The new third line went to work and Laughton scored a gorgeous goal.

A great passing play by Voracek and Lindblom to set up Laughton for the filthy finish.

The Sabres had a chance in the waning seconds, but the Flyers took a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

The third period was much like the first two.

The Sabres had a few chances in the first 30 seconds, but the Flyers survived and were able to clear the zone. Buffalo kept pushing, however.

The Flyers pushed back with a great chance by the third line, but Voracek’s tip on Lindblom’s dangerous pass wouldn’t go. Laughton had a chance in front less than a minute later as well.

The fourth line kept it up with Nicolas Aube-Kubel stealing the puck in the offensive zone and feeding Michael Raffl, but he hit the post.

The Sabres came right back, however, but Elliott had the answers when the skaters in front of him couldn’t clear.

The Flyers played a smart third period. They got pucks in deep, limited Buffalo chances, and rolled all four lines.

The Flyers and Sabres will go right back at it on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. EST.