Sabres Vs. Flyers, Game 7 Final: Philly Scores At Will, Puts On Cruise Control En Route To Round 2

In terms of offensive control and attack, the Philadelphia Flyers were better than the Buffalo Sabres in just about every game of their first round NHL playoff series. Until Game 7, though, that wasn’t necessarily apparent.

But as soon as the puck dropped in the final game of this series, the Flyers took complete control. They kept the puck in the Buffalo end, threw shots at the Sabres net at will and limited Buffalo’s chances at even cracking the blue line. Both James van Riemsdyk and Braydon Coburn each outshot the Sabres in the first period, and the Flyers as a team outshot Buffalo 16-2 in the opening frame.

Ryan Miller’s bunch almost got out of it without a goal against, but in the final minute, Coburn threw a puck on net that hit Mike Grier in front and bounced through Miller’s five hole. That bad break didn’t help much, as the Flyers headed to the locker room with a lead they’d never look back on.

By the middle of the second period, the score was 3-0 on goals from Danny Briere and van Riemsdyk, and ultimately, a 4-0 lead would see the end of Miller’s game -- and ultimately, his season. Buffalo avoided the shutout on two third period goals, but by then, the game was essentially over.

Ironically, the horrific Philadelphia power play was a big reason why the game was won for them on Tuesday night. They scored two goals in 2:24 of power play time, while the Sabres only capitalized on their seven-plus minutes of power play time once the game was already decided.

The Flyers move on to face either Boston, Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay in the second round, depending on what happens in the multiple Game 7’s on Wednesday night.