Elliott makes 40 saves, Flyers shut out Sabres

PHILADELPHIA -- Brian Elliott made 40 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Kevin Hayes scored a goal and had an assist for Philadelphia (3-1-0).
Elliott made 15 saves on 17 shots after replacing Carter Hart in the second period of a 6-1 loss to Buffalo on Monday.
"I think it's nice to have a little playing time under the belt before you get your first start," Elliott said. "It doesn't matter how many years you've played, the first game of the year you always want to start off on a good note. I think it was good to get in there. Last night was not what we wanted to put on the ice as a team, and I thought the response tonight was really good."

Jonas Johansson made eight saves on nine shots for the Sabres (1-3-0) after replacing Carter Hutton to start the third period. Hutton made 19 saves on 20 shots.
Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger said Hutton was injured when Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour pushed Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov into the goalie early in the second period. Provorov's elbow appeared to hit Hutton's head.
"It was really disappointing in a game the way it was going to lose midway through the game a very strong Carter Hutton," Krueger said.
Travis Konecny put the Flyers ahead 1-0 with 2:09 remaining in the second period. Nolan Patrick knocked the puck away from Buffalo forward Curtis Lazar deep in the Philadelphia zone and sent it up to Oskar Lindblom along the half-wall. Lindblom passed the puck across the ice and off the boards at center ice to Konecny, who went in alone on Hutton and slid the puck between his pads.
"I had talked to our goalie coach (Kim Dillabaugh) and he gave me a few tips on what this guy was doing yesterday and some things that might help me out if I get a chance to take a 1-on-1 with him, and it ended up working out," Konecny said.

Jakub Voracek made it 2-0 at 13:43 of the third period when he finished a 2-on-1 with Hayes, and Hayes scored into an empty net with 1:42 remaining to make it 3-0.
The Sabres' 40 shots on goal were their most since they had 44 against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 23, 2019.
"[Elliott] was good, but I think there were moments we could have done a better job getting to him, getting to the net and being assertive in that area," Buffalo forward Eric Staal said.
It was Elliott's 41st NHL shutout and fifth in four seasons with Philadelphia.
"He made some huge saves for us to keep that game 0-0 and kept us in the game," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "He's battling out there and working his butt off, and he's probably the reason we won the game tonight."
Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said, "We didn't play a perfect game. There are some decisions with the puck that we need to make a little bit better. But I thought overall our compete level was very strong tonight. ... We had to bounce back from our performance yesterday, and I thought our group showed some good character, and we found a way to win against a good team."
NOTES: Flyers defenseman Philippe Myers and forward Morgan Frost each will have an MRI on Wednesday after leaving the game with an injury, Vigneault said. Myers did not play in the second and third periods, and Frost left with 4:45 remaining in the second after a collision with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe. ... The win was the 692nd in the NHL for Vigneault, moving him past Dick Irvin for ninth in NHL history. He is 692-457-105 with 35 ties in 1,289 games with the Flyers, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens.