Flyers rally for win against Sabres

PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek scored in the shootout, and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from down three goals in the third period to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
Voracek sealed the win in the third round when he beat goalie Anders Nilsson with a high wrist shot.

He had missed the final 3:20 of the third period and part of overtime after a hard hit from Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
"I felt pretty good," Voracek said. "As soon as I got up, I was a little shaky, but that's normal, it was a big hit. I was feeling pretty comfortable that I was going to be able to come back, and that's what happened."
Travis Konecny, Brayden Schenn and Mark Streit each scored a power-play goal in the third period for the Flyers (3-3-1). Goalie Steve Mason made eight saves after relieving starter Michal Neuvirth in the second period and stopped the two Sabres he faced in the shootout.

After Tyler Ennis opened the scoring early in the second period with his first goal of the season, Matt Moulson scored twice on the power play to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead heading into the third period. Nilsson made 38 saves in his first start for Buffalo (1-2-2).
"It's on us to be better," Sabres captain Brian Gionta said. "We showed we could take over the game and make something happen. It's tough. We need to find a way to go into that third and get a win."
Streit scored with 1:51 remaining to tie the game 3-3, lifting his rebound over a pile of players in front of the net. Sabres coach Dan Bylsma challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but it was upheld by video review.
Konecny tipped an Ivan Provorov shot past Nilsson for his first NHL goal at 4:30 of the third to make it 3-1, and 24 seconds after Kulikov was assessed a charging penalty for his hit on Voracek, Schenn scored with 2:56 remaining to pull Philadelphia within a goal at 3-2.
Moulson's second goal, a one-timer at 15:43 of the second period that chased Neuvirth, gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but it was upheld by video review.
Neuvirth allowed three goals on 17 shots.
Ennis gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 2:06 of the second when he tipped a sharp-angled shot by Zemgus Girgensons past Neuvirth, and then Moulson won a race for a loose puck in the Flyers zone and scored on a backhand from in front at 3:56 for a 2-0 Buffalo advantage.

Goal of the game

Streit scored with less than two minutes left in the third period to tie the game 3-3. Giroux took a shot from the left side that was tipped on net by Wayne Simmonds. Nilsson made the save, then slid across to make a save on Schenn. Simmonds dove into the crease and sent the puck back to Streit, whose first shot was stopped. But Streit reached in and lifted the rebound over the pile in front.

Save of the game

After Giroux made a diagonal pass through the Sabres zone to Matt Read, who was alone in front, Nilsson stretched his right pad to stop Read's backhand with 5:46 left in the first period to keep it 0-0.

Unsung moment of the game

Hakstol admitted he knew his coach's challenge on Moulson's second goal was unlikely to be successful, but it bought extra time for Mason to get loose. After playing in a 3-1 loss at the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, Mason made eight saves through overtime and two more in the shootout, allowing the Flyers to rally for the win.

Highlight of the game

Konecny sparked the Flyers comeback when he tipped Provorov's shot from the point past Nilsson at 4:30 of the third period.

They said it

"He's a warrior and all that. He's a tough guy. He's going to battle. He came back and he was skating pretty well there." -- Flyers captain Claude Giroux on Jakub Voracek
"I'm more concerned about the reason why we took the penalty, not the penalty itself. We turn the puck over at the blue line, that forced us to play defense and take the penalty and give them the chance to get on the power play." -- Sabres coach Dan Bylsma on the charging penalty assessed to Dmitry Kulikov late in the third period

Need to know

The Flyers have scored three or more consecutive goals in a game three times in their first seven games. … The Sabres' three second-period goals matched their total in the second period of their first four games. … Moulson had his first two-goal game since Dec. 11, 2014.

What's next

Sabres:Home against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Home against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CSN-PH, FS-A, NHL.TV)