Sabres Vs. Flyers, Game 5: Brian Boucher Pulled As Buffalo Scores Three Times In First

It's always interesting in Philadelphia when it comes to the Flyers, and it's no different on Friday night through one period of Game 5 against the Buffalo Sabres.

In the biggest game of the season to date for both teams, the Sabres quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest on goals from Tyler Ennis and Thomas Vanek. Both were scored from on the goal line, off the front of Brian Boucher, through the five-hole and into the net. Not exactly the way you want to start things off.

The Sabres controlled play for most of the period until the officials started blowing the whistle about midway through. They've been atrocious all series long and that's continued in all directions tonight, but the difference all series in that department has been the Flyers horrible power play. Unable to get clean chances through on Ryan Miller, the Sabres have been able to kill off those Philly chances with ease.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Buffalo capitalized on a 4-on-3 chance on a Marc-Andre Gragnani chance. As we head to the second period, the Sabres are rolling, 3-0, and the Flyers are just looking for a way to stop the bleeding. Michael Leighton is in net for Philadelphia, and he's the third goalie to play for them in this series. Which is, you know, unbelievable.

All of the insanity of the first period began with news that Zac Rinaldo was in the Flyers lineup. Rinaldo, 20, is known for his incredible ability to take multiple suspension-worthy penalties in just one spin around the ice, and it took him until he got about four or five feet off the Philadelphia bench to throw a hit on his first shift.