Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Philadelphia Flyers were able to split their home-and-home series with the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night thanks to a 5-1 victory at KeyBank Center.
The Flyers got off to a quick start that included two goals in the opening 91 seconds of the game that did Buffalo in from the start.
Philadelphia wasted no time jumping out to an early lead, as Scott Laughton opened the scoring just over a minute into the game for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead.
Just 28 seconds later, defenseman Louie Belpedio scored his first NHL goal to double the advantage, 2-0.
The Flyers capitalized on a Sabres turnover at their own blue line for a breakaway chance at the other end. Travis Konecny intercepted a pass and was able to beat goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with five minutes remaining in the opening period to up the Philadelphia lead to 3-0.
Following the first period, the Sabres announced that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson would miss the remainder of the game due to a lower-body injury.
Despite leading in shots on goal in the second period by a wide margin, the Sabres saw the deficit extend to four with a chance late in the frame. Garnet Hathaway was the recipient a pass from Ryan Poehling in front of the net, and he converted for a 4-0 Philadelphia advantage.
Buffalo was able to score less than three minutes into the third period, trimming the deficit to 4-1. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju received a cross-ice pass from Casey Mittelstadt and skated in from the blue line to bury his first goal of the season.
Nearly 10 minutes later, Bobby Brink capitalized on another Sabres turnover for his third goal of the season to restore Philadelphia's four-goal lead. Joel Farabee made the pass the helped create the chance, and received the lone assist on the score to make it a 5-1 game.
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SCORING SUMMARY
First Period:
BUF: NONE
PHI: 1:03 - Scott Laughton (1) (Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee); 1:31 - Louie Delpedio (1) (Morgan Frost, Egor Zamula); 14:57 - Travis Konecny (9) (Unassisted)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
PHI: 14:35 - Garnet Hathaway (2) (Ryan Poehling, Nicolas Deslauriers)
Third Period:
BUF: 2:24 - Henri Jokiharju (1) (Casey Mittlestadt, JJ Peterka)
PHI: 11:28 - Bobby Brink (3) (Joel Farabee)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Bobby Brink - PHI
2.) Joel Farabee - PHI
3.) Louie Belpedio - PHI
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What's next:
The Sabres will travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Saturday for a 7 p.m. ET faceoff from Scotiabank Arena. Pregame coverage on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network - WGR Sports Radio 550 - starts at 6 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol.