Let’s quickly go over Thursday night’s Game 1 between the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. Buffalo won the game, 1-0, and now holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
Sabres Vs. Flyers: Failed Power Play Attempts Cost Philly In Game 1
One team took 36 shot attempts, including 25 on net, four that were blocked and seven that were blocked. The other team took a whopping 74 attempts towards the net, including 35 that were on net, 16 that were blocked and 23 that missed. If you looked at those numbers on a typical night, you’d assume that the second team was the one that came out on top.
Ah, not the case. The Flyers essentially dominated from start to finish, but a failure to capitalize on the power play and a big rebound that found the stick of Patrick Kaleta in the second period ultimately costed the East’s No. 2 seed the game and home-ice advantage in the series.
We mentioned that power play failure, and the turning point of the game really felt like it came after the Sabres killed a 5-on-3 chance in the third period. Flyers defenseman Matt Carle agreed.
“Any time you get the opportunity to have a 5-on-3, I think you need to score,” Carle said. “It’s one of those things where it’s a momentum killer. The other team picks up momentum as well if they kill it off, so that was a big turning point I think.”
The Flyers will certainly have to improve on the power play if they want to beat the Sabres and the fantastic play of goaltender Ryan Miller.
For more on this series, check SBNation.com’s continuing coverage of the series, as well as coverage from our blogs: Broad Street Hockey in Philadelphia and Die By The Blade in Buffalo.
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