Elliott Records Shutout as Flyers Defeat Sabres

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

On Saturday afternoon in Buffalo, the Flyers nearly got their regular lineup back. It certainly showed as they were opportunistic, dominant on the forecheck, and consistently rolling lines.

Brian Elliott was also on point. He made 23 saves to secure his second shutout of the season, both coming against the Sabres, once again in a 3-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams got power play chances early in the game, but neither team could strike. As the period progressed, the Flyers were generating more shots again, and finally found a way to get one by Carter Hutton with just under six minutes to go.

Travis Sanheim won a battle and managed to get the puck into the slot to Sean Couturier. Couturier fired a shot that fluttered on goal and beat Hutton high, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 14:22.

The Flyers had another power play late in the period, but failed to score, but carried the lead and an 11-6 advantage in shots to the first intermission.

Through the second, the Flyers maintained the better of the play. Late in the period, they finally got the payoff.

Off a rush, Shayne Gostisbehere got the puck with open space and fired a shot past Hutton to make it 2-0 with 5:27 remaining in the period. 

Then, with just over a minute to play, Jake Voracek and Oskar Lindblom made nice passes to set up Scott Laughton for a breakaway. Laughton went to the backhand and beat Hutton through the legs to make it 3-0 with 1:06 to play in the period.

Through two periods, the Flyers had a 26-14 advantage in shots.

The Flyers shut things down in the third, limiting the Sabres to nine shots in the final period while taking 13. While they didn't manage a goal off some solid looks, they held the Sabres off the board for the remaining 20 minutes.

Elliott finished off the shutout, making 23 saves. Hutton made 36 saves on 39 shots in the loss.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Sunday afternoon to close out the weekend against the Sabres at 3 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Sean Couturier (4) (Travis Sanheim) 14:22

2nd Period

• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere (2) (James van Riemsdyk, Couturier) 14:33
• PHI Scott Laughton (5) (Oskar Lindblom, Jake Voracek) 18:54

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics