O'Reilly, Kane score 3rd-period goals to lead Sabres past Flyers

Following a loss to Boston on Tuesday night, the message from Phil Housley to the Buffalo Sabres centered on sticking to their game plan even when the goals weren't coming. The Sabres had entered the third period of that game in a scoreless tie, only to deviate from their plan and lose 3-0.
So, when the Sabres found themselves tied 0-0 entering the third period at home against Philadelphia on Tuesday, Housley was sure to hammer the point once again. The players responded, and this time they left with a 4-2 win to show for it.
"We came in here between periods and talked about it," alternate captain Jack Eichel, who scored a pair of empty-net goals, said. "We did a good job in the third of sticking with it. I think there's been times this year where we've had good periods and nothing to show for it after two.
" … Tonight we just did a good job of sticking with our game plan through the 60 minutes."

The victory was a show of perseverance for the Sabres, who took 28 shots through two periods before finally breaking Philadelphia goaltender Brian Elliott and then had to kill a 5-on-3 penalty and survive a late Flyers push to hold onto the win.
Ironically, for all of the grade-A chances the Sabres were able to generate through 40 minutes, it was a bad-angle goal from Ryan O'Reilly that got them on the board 3:59 into the third period. O'Reilly was behind the goal line when he took his shot, which snuck in over Elliott's shoulder.

"Offensively it was kind of frustrating how many grade-A chances we had and myself, I wasn't shooting very well," O'Reilly said. "I get a chance like that, just try to put it in that upper area and get a good bounce and it was nice, it kind of gave us that little spark and a little confidence."
Housley has been preaching a shot mentality to the Sabres all season long, specifically imploring them to shoot from all areas of the ice. O'Reilly's goal was a good example of why, and the Sabres finished the night with 37 shots in total.
"It sounds so simple but I thought we were firing a lot of shots from the point, from bad angles," Housley said. "Ryan's goal is an example of that, of just getting it in there and I thought our guys did a good job of getting to the net."
O'Reilly's goal swung momentum in Buffalo's favor, but to keep it the Sabres would have to turn to their penalty kill. Sam Reinhart was called for holding less than a minute after O'Reilly's goal, and Jake McCabe was called for delay of game 1:20 later to set up 40 seconds at 5-on-3.
The call against McCabe was incorrect; O'Reilly said the officials apologized after seeing on replay that the clearing attempt from within the Sabres zone had deflected off the glass before going into the stands. The Sabres had to kill the penalty regardless, though, and it ended up giving them a boost of momentum.
Buffalo entered the night 41-for-44 on the penalty kill at home this season, good for second in the NHL.
"I think the penalty kill is a huge momentum booster for you when you do it well," Sabres goalie Robin Lehner said. "I think we've been playing our 5-on-3s very well. It's just a credit to our PK. The guys sacrifice themselves and work very hard on it. It was nice we could take advantage of it."
The Sabres got some extra cushion when Evander Kane scored his team-leading 15th goal with 8:52 remaining, a deflection of a shot from the point by Josh Gorges.

The Flyers made the game interesting late, twice cutting the deficit to one goal. Michael Raffl scored on the power-play after Elliott had been pulled with 2:10 remaining, and Shayne Gostisbehere added another in the final minute. The Sabres responded on both occasions with empty-net goals from Eichel.
Lehner's night ended with 33 saves on 35 shots and, most importantly, a win. The goalie entered the night with a 1.94 goals-against average at home this season, which led the NHL, but too often this season has lacked the goal support to come out a winner.
"It's nice," Lehner said. "We stuck with it. We didn't get rewarded after 40, we score two and we get two empty-netters. That's great."
"He's been solid for us," Housley added. "You go back to all the games he's played recently on home ice, he's given us a chance to win every time he's getting between the pipes and we finally got some goal support for him … They did get some good looks in the second period and he made some big saves for us."
Most importantly, the win was a course correction for the team following the disappointing loss to Boston on Tuesday. Buffalo stuck to the script even when the bounces weren't going their way, and got rewarded in the end. It's a building block they'll look to learn from heading into their game in Carolina on Saturday.
"It was a much more consistent effort," O'Reilly said. "We had a good start. We talked in the room about sticking with that and keep doing the things we're doing well and just a consistent game … It's a quick turnaround. We have to do the things we did well tonight and carry them onto tomorrow."

Up next

The Sabres' visit to Carolina on Saturday night will mark their final game before a three-day break for the holidays. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with GMC Gamenight, or you can listen to the game live on WGR 550. Puck drop is scheduled for 7.