Sabres top Flyers for Jarmo Kekalainen’s first win as GM
The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 to earn the first win of Jarmo Kekalainen's tenure as general manager.
Making a good first impression on the new boss is essential.
The Buffalo Sabres took more than a few minutes to respond to the memo, given that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen had a keen eye on the team in his first game at the front of the organization.
The Sabres responded emphatically and in a short amount of time, by scoring two goals in the final four minutes of the second period, then killing off a late penalty against Mattias Samuelsson to secure a 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at KeyBank Center.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin takes a shot in the third period of Thursday's game against the Flyers at KeyBank Center.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
The Sabres completed the comeback after putting only four shots on goal in the first. They went more than 12 minutes between their third and fourth shots on goal in the first, and after they trailed the Flyers 2-1 midway through the second period.
“We were feeling pretty good, especially after the first, we were a little shaky,” said Tage Thompson, whose goal at 16:54 of the second tied the score at 2-2. “We kind of just settled into the game and got comfortable. There’s good chatter on the bench, pretty positive, and I think we just kind of knew we were going to win the game.”
The Sabres (15-14-4) have won four straight games, their longest winning streak of the season.
And yes, the Sabres knew the new boss was watching and evaluating, after Kekalainen stated his goal for the Sabres’ identity earlier this week: Work, be relentless and compete, and do it consistently.
“To some degree, that’s just human nature, to want to put your best foot forward,” said Sabres goalie Alex Lyon, who made 24 saves for his fourth consecutive win. “At the same time, for a player in this league, honestly, for anyone in this league, you have to pay your rent, every day. That’s my mindset, it’s kind of that desperate mindset. Nothing really changes, and nothing should change.”
Second, third periods
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead midway through the second on goals by Noah Cates and Cam York, but Thompson tied the score. Then Ostlund gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead with 29.8 seconds left in the second on a shot through traffic from the top of the circles that beat Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson (23 saves). Josh Norris increased the lead to 4-2 at 10:20 of the third, seeing how his team simplified its game to climb back into the lead, including pressuring Philadelphia’s defense, moving pucks into the zone and driving to the net.“The first period, we didn’t really have our legs,” Norris said. “They outcompeted us.”
Travis Konecny cut the lead to 4-3 at 14:28 of the third, then the Sabres killed off a delay-of-game penalty against Samuelsson, called with 2:19 left in regulation. The Flyers pulled Ersson for a sixth skater with less than two minutes left, and the Sabres blocked three shots in the final two minutes before Ryan McLeod scored an empty-net goal with 7.9 seconds left.
“Blocking shots, 6-on-4, isn’t easy, a couple big saves, just really gritty,” Norris said. “Stuff that you need to do to win.”
It’s the third time in as many games the Sabres have protected a one-goal lead, after a 3-2 win last Thursday at Vancouver and a 3-1 win Sunday at Seattle.
“Playing the right way, making them try to make the plays, making them put risk in their game instead of us inviting the risk,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of his team’s last three third-period efforts. “Sometimes you can get invited into a rush game, trade rushes … we’ve been good at staying away from that type of situation, where we give the opposition the opportunity to get back in it.”
Milestones
In addition to the Sabres winning in Kekalainen’s first game as general manager, Ruff earned his 915th win as a head coach and is fourth all-time among NHL coaches in wins. Ruff is 915-732-78-164 in 25 seasons as a head coach in Buffalo, Dallas and New Jersey. Ahead of Ruff: Scotty Bowman (1244 wins), Joel Quenneville (989) and Paul Maurice (934).Rasmus Dahlin notched his 300th career assist on Thompson’s second-period goal, and now has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his last eight games.
Injury update
The win came with a cost to the Sabres' defense. Ruff said after the game that defenseman Conor Timmins sustained a broken leg (it wasn’t specified which one). He got tangled with Jordan Greenway and fell awkwardly in front of the penalty boxes with less than six minutes left in the third. Timmins is the Sabres' leading shot blocker (70) and could be out for six to eight weeks.Tyson Kozak sustained an upper-body injury and left in the second period. He played less than five minutes over seven shifts, and Ruff said Kozak had “a little bit of a problem that they’re looking into.”
Beck Malenstyn went to the bench midway through the third period after blocking a shot, and was in visible pain on the bench, but returned to the ice for three more shifts in the third.
“Blocked a shot,” Ruff said. “But he’s good.”
