Buffalo Sabres outplay Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0: NHL Play-off Recap
Ryan Miller recorded his second shut-out of the play-offs of his career with 32 stops, as Buffalo Sabres held on for a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series, at HSBC Arena on Wednesday night.
Jason Pominville scored the only goal of the game for the Sabres, which got rid off a 4-2 drop on Monday to even its series with the Philadelphia, winning 1-0 for the second time in four contests and is fourth team to register a pair of 1-0 victories in
one series. Rob Niedermayer and Tyler Ennis both had an assist on the lone goal.
Brian Boucher was outstanding between the pipes, but came up just short in the loss, turning away 28 shots. He then kept the Sabres off the board rest of the game for Philadelphia, which looks to get the upper hand with Game 5 back in Philadelphia on Friday
and meeting with the Sabres for the ninth time in the play-offs.
"It's always frustrating when you lose a game 1-0, but I think we did a good job of getting pucks to the net and keeping up pressure. Offensively I thought we had the game in our hands but just didn't convert. I think our defense also did a good job." Philadelphia
head coach Peter Laviolette.
The Sabres drew the first blood about 9 ½ minutes into the opening period. The goal came when Tyler Ennis swept a back-hand pass from the end boards to Rob Niedermayer, who created a two-on-one rush and sent a pass from the crease to the right post for Pominville,
who deflected it home.
Miller made 11 saves in the first period, and then stopped 10 shots in the second period, and was relieved by two Flyers’ shots that went off the crossbar to keep it a 1-0 game after 40 minutes.
Tyler Myers supplied a key save 13 minutes into the first period, when he set up James van Riemsdyk in the slot to face an open side. But, Myers slid down to redirect the shot over the net.
Van Riemsdyk was disappointingly beaten by Miller on various occasions, including three opportunities during a 10 second span halfway through the middle session.
Just after the Sabres successfully killed off a minor penalty late in the second period, Philadelphia captain Mike Richards got a major for elbowing for preventing from a check at the side boards from Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta with three seconds remaining.
However, the Sabres were not able to clear their own zone and Flyers then attacked on their crease to score with 8:50 to play in the third period. Briere was left alone in front of the net. He then turn around, settled the puck, faked the goalie's poke check
and then ripped a solid shot only to be blocked by Miller, who was at his best in the final session, halting 11 shots.
Boucher then stopped Ennis’ shot on a breakaway with 5 ½ minutes to play, while Miller wasted Richards’ chance few seconds later.
"You need to do whatever it takes at this point, to keep winning as much as you can and advance. I thought we did a great job establishing the lead and sticking to the game plan. We battled hard, and at the end what you saw was three or four guys around
me who weren't going to let me down." Miller said.
The Flyers pulled Boucher out of the net for an extra skater with 1:17 left in the period, and got a golden opportunity with 32 seconds to play, when three players pile up to grab the loose puck in the crease. However, Miller succeeded to smother the rebounds,
as he spread out near the goal-line.
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