Daniel Briere and Nikolay Zherdev netted second-period goals and Brian Boucher turned aside 35 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 4-2 road triumph over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Jeff Carter opened the scoring with a power-play goal and defenseman Kimmo Timonen added an empty-net tally for Atlantic Division champion Philadelphia, which secured a 2-1 edge in the series. Game 4 is Wednesday night in Buffalo.
Starting in place of rookie Sergei Bobrovsky, Boucher improved to 6-1 in his postseason career against the Sabres.
After the teams traded first-period goals, Briere netted his second tally in as many games just 2:44 into the second period. Scott Hartnell lifted the stick of defenseman Chris Butler to allow the former Sabres captain to tuck a shot just under the crossbar for his 37th career postseason goal.
Zherdev doubled the advantage exactly 14 minutes later after he tapped in a brilliant feed from captain Mike Richards on the doorstep to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.
Drew Stafford recorded a power-play goal, Nathan Gerbe also tallied and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani notched a pair of assists for seventh-seeded Buffalo.
Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves in a losing effort.
Philadelphia | Buffalo | |
Jeff Carter 2 | Points | Marc-Andre Gragnani 2 |
Jeff Carter 1 | Goals | Nathan Gerbe 1 |
Jeff Carter 1 | Assists | Marc-Andre Gragnani 2 |
Jeff Carter 1 | Power Play Goals | Drew Stafford 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Brian Boucher .946 | Save Percentage | Ryan Miller .880 |
Brian Boucher 35 | Saves | Ryan Miller 22 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Philadelphia | 26 | 4 | 1-3 | 5-6 | 16 | 26 |
Buffalo | 37 | 2 | 1-6 | 2-3 | 10 | 36 |