Elliott’s 40-Save Shutout Leads Flyers to Victory

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

One night after getting routed by the Buffalo Sabres, the Flyers had a chance at revenge. Brian Elliott was at the front of the brigade.

Elliott was sensational, making 40 saves on the way to a shutout win, as the Flyers struck for timely goals in a 3-0 victory over the Sabres on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers had to face some adversity early by killing off a 59-second 5-on-3 for the Sabres. They allowed just one shot to the Sabres while shorthanded.

Both teams had prolonged shifts of possession, but the Sabres had the better of the chances in the opening period. Through 20 minutes, neither team scored and shots were even, 11-11.

Following the first period, the Flyers played the remainder of the game without Phil Myers, who left with under two minutes to go and did not return.

The Flyers came out with a stronger start to the second period, getting eight of the first nine shots of the period. A tripping penalty to Jake Voracek turned the momentum back to Buffalo, as they fired five shots on the power play and kept the pressure on after.

But with 2:09 remaining in the period, the Flyers grabbed the all-important first goal. Oskar Lindblom led Travis Konecny with a lead pass off the boards that slowed down as it entered the zone. Konecny caught up to it ahead of the pack and beat Carter Hutton through the five-hole to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead.

In the final seconds of the period, Rasmus Ristolainen took a roughing penalty that gave the Flyers 1:58 of power play time to start the third period. Through 40 minutes, shots were 24-20 in favor of Buffalo. During the second, Morgan Frost went off the ice in pain after a hit behind the net and also did not return.

While the Flyers did not score on the power play at the start of the period, they did come out with a few strong shifts to keep the pressure up. The Sabres changed goalies before the period as Hutton was out due to injury, and Jonas Johansson entered.

As the Sabres started to apply pressure with time starting to run low, the Flyers got an odd-man rush and took full advantage. Kevin Hayes connected with Voracek for an insurance goal, giving the Flyers the 2-0 lead with his first of the season with 6:17 to play.

Hayes later scored into an empty net to ice it. Elliott finished the night by making 16 saves in the third period, 40 for the game, to complete the shutout win. Hutton stopped 19 of 20 shots before exiting. Johansson made nine saves on 10 shots in relief.

The Flyers get back on the ice for their next game on Thursday night, hitting the road for the first time this season. They will face the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• PHI Travis Konecny (4) (Oskar Lindblom, Nolan Patrick) 17:51

3rd Period

• PHI Jake Voracek (1) (Kevin Hayes, Erik Gustafsson) 13:43
• PHI Hayes (2) EN (Unassisted) 18:18

Game Statistics