Postgame 5: Sabres Hold off Flyers, 2-1

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, at the KeyBank Center on Tuesday evening. A pair of goals by Buffalo's Brandon Biro made the difference. The Flyers dropped to 1-1-0 in the preseason, while the Sabres improved to 2-0-0.

The teams traded off first period goals. After Brandon Biro (1st goal of the preseason) opened the scoring at 8:24 of the opening stanza, Travis Konecny (1st) answered off the rush at 14:42.
In the second period, Biro restored a lead for Buffalo at 8:57. The third period was scoreless.
Troy Grosenick played the first two periods in goal for the Flyers with Samuel Ersson entering at the start of the third period. Grosenick stopped 12 of 14 shots. Ersson stopped all seven shots he faced in the final 20 minutes.
The seemingly ageless Craig Anderson started for the Sabres, playing 30:02 and saving eight of nine shots. Malcolm Subban played the remaining 29:58 and stopped all 12 shots he faced.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play including a failed two-man advantage. Philadelphia was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
TURNING POINT
The Sabres hit two posts in the first eight minutes of the second period, and the Flyers spent the middle stages of regulation struggling to clear their own zone and move the puck up ice. Their luck ran out as Biro put the puck at the net and it found its way past Grosenick for what proved to be the winning goal.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Flyers established a strong early forecheck in the period but the stanza ended up being pretty even overall including one goal per side, six shots on goal apiece and a 7-5 faceoff edge for Buffalo. There were no penalties in the first period.
2) Lukas Rousek made a backhanded pass to Biron, who beat Grosenick with a shot upstairs to the short side from just inside the left faceoff dot. Grosenick may have been slightly off his angle. Ilya Lyubushkin got the secondary assist.
Both teams had golden scoring chances as Grosenick stopped Jeff Skinner from in close and then veteran goalie Anderson returned the favor one-on-one against Morgan Frost.
Konecny's tally saw him put on a burst of speed on a well executed give-and-go rush. James van Riemsdyk picked up the primary assist, while Frost earned a secondary helper. On the downside, Konecny crashed into the end boards after his goal and got up a bit slowly. He subsequently missed his last two shifts of the period.

3) The second period was a slop-fest from the Flyers' standpoint, and Philly was increasingly outplayed as the period moved along despite shots on goal being tied at 8-8. Philadelphia was guilty of unforced turnovers, got caught puck watching at times and struggled to move the puck. Additionally, the Flyers' first power play of the game went nowhere. If not for the Sabres hitting two posts, the score at the second intermission easily could have been a lot worse than 2-1.
4) The Flyers' best scoring chance of the second period came at 6:39. Frost won an offensive zone draw cleanly back to the point and moved across the slot, where he tipped a point shot on net. JVR was lurking in front in case of a rebound but there was none.
A 38-foot shot by Biro found its way past Grosenick at 8:57 for his second goal of the game. Alex Tuch, who passed the puck to Biro, skated toward the net. He did not deflect the puck, apparently, but at least provided a partial screen. Henri Jokiharju was credited with the secondary assist.
The Sabres got the game's first power play at 13:37 when Frost was called for cross-checking rookie hopeful Matt Savoie just outside the Flyers defensive zone. The Flyers killed the penalty in good shape. At 17:46, Zack MacEwen drew a hooking minor on Skinner by keeping his feet moving. The Flyers struggled to get anything going on the man advantage.
5) The Flyers let a lengthy two-man advantage slip away early in the third period, generating only one routine shot on goal. Shots on goal in the third period were 7-7 but the Flyers only had one Grade A chance; a good look at the net from below the right circle by Noah Cates. The most encouraging sign in the period was a very sharp 20 minutes in net by Ersson.