20210309 Final Horn at PHI Johansson 01

It wasn't pretty, but the Buffalo Sabres managed to earn a point Tuesday night in a 5-4 shootout loss against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Sam Reinhart led the way for Buffalo with his second two-goal game of the season. Riley Sheahan and Brandon Montour also scored for the Sabres.
Jonas Johansson made 29 saves through regulation and overtime.
James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Hayes, Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere were the Flyers goal scorers.
Carter Hart allowed three goals on eight shots to start the game. He was replaced by Brian Elliott at the start of the second period and he made 11 saves on 12 shots. Elliott added two more saves in the shootout. He's now 16-2-2 against the Sabres in his career.
Buffalo had a pair of two-goal leads, but the Flyers chipped away to force overtime. The Sabres are now 0-6-2 over their last eight games and wrap up their five-game road trip with an 0-4-1 record.

What happened

The Flyers took the lead 1:56 into the game when van Riemsdyk found himself wide open in the slot and one-timed a pass from Joel Farabee, but the Sabres bounced back quickly and put together a strong first period to go up 3-1.
Reinhart tied things up at the 4:33 mark, accepting a pass from Dylan Cozens and putting the puck in from the left faceoff circle with a quick shot.
Then Sheahan gave Buffalo the lead with his backhand in front 9:39 into the first.
Reinhart's second goal came with 3:21 remaining. Taylor Hall carried the puck into the Flyers zone down the left wing, circled behind the net and on his way back around, fed Reinhart in front. Reinhart now has a team-leading 11 goals on the season.
After making a goalie change, the Flyers came out hard in the second period. Hayes scored 2:58 into the middle stanza, skating in with Scott Laughton and scored to cut the deficit to one.
The Sabres responded with Montour's first of the year at 6:20 of the period. His shot from the left faceoff circle deflected off a Flyer stick and in past Elliott.
Philadelphia once again got within a goal to make it 4-3 with Giroux's tally with 4:55 left, just as a Flyers power play expired.
With 5:46 left in regulation, Gostisbehere's point shot on the power play found its way in through traffic to tie the game.
Buffalo went on the power play with 2:24 remaining in the third, but couldn't convert. The Sabres went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
In the first minute of overtime, Johansson stopped Sean Couturier on a breakaway. Hall then had a great chance the other way with just under two minutes left in the extra session in front of the net, but Elliott was up to the task.
In the shootout, Couturier and Nolan Patrick scored for Philadelphia while Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt were denied.

Roll the highlight film

Take a look at Johansson's save on Couturier:

BUF@PHI: Johansson shuts the door on Couturier in OT

Worth mentioning

After Buffalo won the first head-to-head matchup of the season 6-1, the Flyers won the next three, each by a 3-0 score. Before Reinhart's goal, the Flyers' shutout streak against the Sabres was up to 185:44.
Captain Jack Eichel did not play due to an upper-body injury. He hasn't dressed in three games this season due to various ailments after missing the first few weeks of training camp with an injury.
Cozens admirably stepped up in his place to play center for the first time in his NHL career, lining up between Taylor Hall and Reinhart. Cozens picked up an assist and Hall added two helpers.
Before the game, the Sabres recalled defenseman Henri Jokiharju from the taxi squad and assigned Brandon Davidson to the taxi squad. Jokiharju skated 17:29.

Coming up

The Sabres will return home and they'll next take the ice for a morning skate on Thursday. They'll wear their Reverse Retro jerseys once again as the face the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. at KeyBank Center. Catch the action on MSG and WGR 550.