NHL Update – Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers in a high scoring game
The 98th game of the NHL preseason was the most productive in terms of goals. The game took place at the HSBC Arena as the Buffalo Sabres hosted the high-on-confidence Philadelphia Flyers. Both teams
were fresh from their previous victories and had the roster to overpower each other. This promised to be an intriguing game with 19,000 fans present to witness the game.
1st period
The first period was exciting not only for the teams but also for the fans. Both teams started on the offensive which resulted in lots of goalscoring opportunities.
Neither of the teams wanted to stay back and wait for a chance to develop. They simply wanted to create their own chances and punish the other. The hunger to take the lead was such that during the first 2 minutes both teams
already managed to stack up 15 shots.
However, it was the Philadelphia Flyers who got the first blood when they scored in the 7th minute. Dan Carcillo’s splendid 37 feet slap off found the back of the net after flying past the goal tender.
The Philadelphia Flyers were able to continue with the strong offence and as a reward for their constant hard work they scored once again in the 13th minute. The goal scorer this time was Matt Walker who scored from 64 feet. The Philadelphia
Flyers would have thought that they were in a comfortable position with the 2 goal advantage, but this was not to be.
The Buffalo Sabres responded in a superb manner as they scored twice in the 14th minute. The first was scored by Cody Maccormick who took the score to 1-2. Then the 2nd goal from Derek Roy
levelled the match. The Buffalo Sabres were the dominating team in the end as they scored once again in the 18th minute through Nathan Gebre and took the lead, with the score now at 3-2.
2nd period
The second period started on the slower side for the Buffalo Sabres as compared to the end of the first period. The away team looked to take advantage of this and came up with early shots but couldn’t net the puck.
This was justified due to the fact that the home team - the Buffalo Sabres - was able to continue with the tight defence that they had. The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t give the Buffalo Sabres much trouble this time around
and the Sabres scored in the 6th minute through Tyler Myers to take the lead to 4-2.
Dominating every department of the game, the Buffalo Sabres scored once again in the 7th minute. Derek Roy bagged his 2nd goal of the match and established a healthy lead with
the score on 5-2.
Not showing any mercy to the opposition, the Buffalo Sabres scored twice in the 10th minute to stomp their authority in their yard. These two goals took the score to 7-2 and completely demolished hopes
of any comeback for the Philadelphia Flyers. The first goal came from Jason Pominville and the 2nd was scored from a 26 feet shot Tyler Ennis.
The home team was not done yet and scored once again in the 19th minute and took the score to 8-2, establishing a commanding lead of 6 goals. The goal scorer this time was Drew Stafford.
The Buffalo Sabres dominated period ended with the score at 8-2. The home team scored 5 goals out of the 14 goal attempts they made.
3rd period
The 3rd period was just a formality according to analysts as the match was in the hands of the Buffalo Sabres. They said that the match was there to be lost by the Sabres but not for the Flyers to
win.
However, the Philadelphia Flyers managed to score in the opening minute of the match when Mike Testwuide scored from a distance of 11 feet. The score at the time was 8-3 in favour of the Buffalo Sabres. There was no chance
of a comeback and any little chances that even existed were extinguished when the Sabres scored in the 5th minute. This took the score to 9-3 for the Buffalo Sabres and they won the match.
At the end of the match, Drew Stafford of the Buffalo Sabres was declared as the star selection of the match as the Buffalo’s emerged victorious.
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