Sabres score three in the third period to win second game in a row
The Buffalo Sabres looked to build on their best effort of the season against Colorado to get to the .500 mark for the first time and posted a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, in spite of being outshot 40-15 in the contest.
Brandon Biro scored twice in his season debut for the Sabres, Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, and Owen Power scored for Buffalo, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 38 saves for his third win of the season.
The Sabres fell behind less than a minute into the game on a Joel Farabee goal, but Buffalo quickly tied the game on Mittelstadt’s third of the season and took the lead on Biro’s first. Cam Atkinson tied the game late in the first, and the two sides seemed content to play a defensive game in the middle frame. Power scored the game-winner early in the third, which woke up the Flyers, who pelted Luukkonen with 20 shots in the final stanza, but Thompson scored his fifth of the season to provide some insurance, and with Samuel Ersson pulled for the extra attacker, Biro removed any doubt with the empty netter.
Here are three takeaways from Buffalo’s 5-2 victory over Philadelphia:
Biro Goes Bonkers
Sabres head coach Don Granato was effusive in his praise of the 25-year-old Biro prior to his first game and placed him in a position to succeed alongside Thompson and Jordan Greenway, but he could not have imagined him scoring a pair of goals in under 11 minutes.
“It’s pretty cool, it’s been a long road to get here. To finally get one after all the time I played to get here.” Biro said after the game.
Hart Leaves Game
Carter Hart has been a big reason why the Flyers were over .500 entering the night, as he has been in goal for all four of their victories, but the Philadelphia goalie left the game in the first period after allowing three goals in 10 minutes, with Jeff Skinner’s tally overturned by an offsides review. Hart was injured when Sabres captain Kyle Okposo fell on top of him. He remained in the game, but appeared hampered after Biro’s goal and was pulled in favor of backup Ersson.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella did not have an update on Hart, other than it was a mid-body injury.
Could Luukkonen Steal Starts From Levi?
Luukkonen put forth his second straight strong performance against the Flyers, allowing only two goals on 40 shots. Both goals were deflections in which the Sabres goalie had little chance to make the stop, and in the third when Buffalo scored three times to break a 2-2 tie, the 25-year-old stopped all 20 Philadelphia shots.
The Sabres play on back-to-back nights at home against the Flyers on Friday and in Toronto on Saturday. It is almost certain that Devon Levi and Luukkonen will split the two games, but if his play continues to improve, it is possible that the big Finn could get more work and take away some of the starts from Levi.
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