Playing their best hockey of the season, the Flyers eliminated Buffalo again on Sunday at the KeyBank Center.
For the third time this season, the Flyers eliminated the Sabers 3-0.
The Flyers (11-4-3) have won three consecutive wins and hold the highest percentage of points in the Eastern Division with 0.694.
Coach Alain Vigneault scored his 700th career victory. In the history of the NHL, he is one of nine coaches with 700 or more wins at all times.
The Flyers had 34 shots in the first two periods. They did not have a big third period as Buffalo advanced, but the Flyers still secured the closing. They held the Sabers (6-10-3) without scoring for nine consecutive periods.
• There were some reasonable concerns about the start of the Flyers’ season simply because the team was seriously struggling to avoid kicks a year after allowing the least number of NHL kicks per game.
The Flyers are beginning to find their identity and system of attacking tough. They overcame their opponents 116-78 in the last three games, after being defeated in 13 of the first 15 games.
And they have last year’s All-Star coming back on the scene.
After his 14-day quarantine, Travis Konecny was removed from the NHL protocol list on Sunday. Konecny, who last played on February 7, is likely to join the team on ice for Tuesday morning skateboarding in Pittsburgh. Your status for the game is yet to be determined.
• Carter Hart recovered in style after allowing six goals in two periods for the Bruins in their 7-3 loss to the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe last Sunday.
The day after Brian Elliott scored his 3-0 loss, Hart made his own.
The 22-year-old made 28 saves and was strong in the third period, when Buffalo overcame the Flyers by 9-4.
• The Sabers watched Jack Eichel return, who missed Saturday’s game due to an injury to his lower body.
Buffalo’s central playmaker, 24, has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 15 career games against the Flyers, but was controlled on Sunday.
• The lineage of James van Riemsdyk, Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee joined when the club returned from its mandatory seven-day COVID-19 closure with a decimated list.
The line remained firm as the Flyers became healthier because it was the best unit on the team.
“Playing with Coots and JVR, both together, they are probably two of the smartest guys I’ve ever played with,” said Farabee on Friday. “Reemer has to be there for the smartest guys in the league. It’s really easy for me to be able to play with them, they find the soft ice and stuff like that. Just try to find them, keep our legs moving – I think that when we play fast together, we are very difficult to stop. “
On Sunday, the trio returned to cooking.
Farabee made two assists and is scoring just under one point per game, with 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 18 games. Van Riemsdyk played a multi-point game (one goal, one assist) and Couturier scored another goal.
JVR extended the Flyers’ lead to 3-0 in the second period with a spectacular redirect. After needing 47 games to register 25 points in a beautiful 2019-20 season for van Riemsdyk, the 31-year-old has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 18 games this season.
For Couturier, since returning from a costochondral split, the 2019-20 Trophy winner Frank J. Selke has had a streak of six consecutive points (five goals, five assists). Couturier scored the first goal of the game in the middle of the screen.
• Michael Raffl does many of the little things and he makes the biggest difference when he is scoring secondary goals.
Including the playoffs, the Flyers are 34-2-6 in the past five seasons, when Raffl scores a goal.
He gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in the middle of the stanza with a detour to Jonas Johansson, who had to make 35 saves in 38 shots.
• Vigneault kept his word about the possibility of alternating defenders with Flyers in the middle of six games in nine days.
After serving as a healthy scratch on Saturday, Philippe Myers joined the squad for Erik Gustafsson.
Myers was good because he played a physical and active game. He finished with an assist, four shots and a score of +1.
The best pair of Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere continued to play well.
Lots of healthy competition now within the Flyers’ blueliners group.
• The Flyers’ penalty went into the weekend in 30th place in the league with 70.2 percent, but was 6 in 6 in both Buffalo games.
• The Flyers fly to Pittsburgh on Monday for three straight games against the Penguins on Tuesday (7 pm ET / NBCSP), Thursday (7 pm ET / NBCSP) and Saturday (1 pm ET / NBCSP).
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