Crisis Averted for Flyers This Time (and Temporarily?)

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Let’s begin on a positive note for a change. The Flyers did
what they had to on Sunday night, beating an inferior opponent to halt a
three-game skid. They still face a steep climb to get back to respectability,
but at least they stopped the bleeding for the time being.

On the flip side, the boys in the orange sweaters were
flirting with disaster. Clearly the superior team for most of the game –
especially the first 20 minutes – Philadelphia only narrowly escaped the
Buffalo Sabres with a 3-2 victory. Just how close did they come to blowing a
two-goal lead?

Which of these measurements is smaller: an inch, or a tenth
of a second?

What should have been a relatively easy save for Ilya
Bryzgalov on a short-handed rush wound up dancing on the goal line. Luckily
Brayden Schenn was there to sweep away Cody Hodgson’s slapper from above the
faceoff circle after it trickled through the goaltender – not a moment too soon
either with Hodgson looking to finish the play.

Bryz has been getting a ton of grief lately, but looked
strong in this tilt even if Schenn did have the save of the night. Billy stopped
18 of 20 shots despite making his second start in as many days.

Besides, it’s not like this near-miss was the sole reason Buffalo
nearly closed the gap. The Sabres were given multiple shorthanded opportunities
on Flyer power plays down the stretch – one of which Jochen Hecht was able to
beat Bryzgalov on – while a dumb boarding penalty against Luke Schenn put his
mates in a tough spot as the third period was winding down.

Yet they survived.

Simon Gagne slipped his second score of 2013 past Ryan
Miller on a breakaway early in the first period, while Max Talbot tallied a
shorty of his own off a beautiful feed from Ruslan Fedotenko. Buffalo cut the
deficit to one before intermission, but Claude Giroux opened up round two with
a quick goal on the man advantage, blowing right through Buffalo’s
penalty-killing unit to set up that sweet wrister.

For Giroux, it was goal number eight this season. Kimmo
Timonen picked up his second assist of the night, giving him 16 – only two
defensemen in the NHL have more.

The important thing is the Flyers took care of business, and
prevented the sky from falling for a few more days at least. Picking up two
points on the lowly Sabres doesn’t signify a whole lot right now though, not
after losing to the Rangers, Penguins, and Bruins in succession, not when a
home-and-home with the Devils looms this week.

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