Sean Couturier recorded a goal and an assist and Brian Elliott made 23 saves as the visiting Philadelphia Flyers posted a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.
Elliott also turned aside all 40 shots he faced during Philadelphia's 3-0 win over Buffalo on Jan. 19.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who have won two straight for the first time since a four-game run from Jan. 26-31.
Recovering from a recent collective bout with COVID-19, Philadelphia took advantage of some shoddy defense by the Sabres, who are mired in an 0-4-1 home slide.
Though Buffalo stepped up its offensive attack in the third period, Elliott held his own in recording the 42nd shutout of his career. Elliott improved to 15-2-2 with four shutouts all-time versus Buffalo, which has been blanked three times this season.
Philadelphia opened the scoring off a Sabres turnover with 5:38 left in the first period. Defenseman Travis Sanheim found Couturier, who drilled the puck from the slot past Carter Hutton (36 saves) for his fourth goal during his five-game point streak.
Another defensive breakdown by Buffalo led to the Flyers' second goal, this time with 5:27 left in the middle period. Gostisbehere got the puck just past the blue line, skated in alone, then beat Hutton to score for a second straight contest after failing to record a goal in his first nine games.
Philadelphia added its final goal when Laughton, just off the COVID-19 protocol list after missing three games, scored on a breakaway with 1:06 remaining in the second period.
Buffalo played a second straight game without star captain Jack Eichel (two goals, 12 assists), who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark (lower-body injury) could miss at least a month, according to the team.
These teams will play again Sunday at Buffalo.
--Field Level Media
Philadelphia | Buffalo | |
Sean Couturier 2 | Points | N/A |
Sean Couturier 1 | Goals | N/A |
Sean Couturier 1 | Assists | N/A |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Brian Elliott 1.000 | Save Percentage | Carter Hutton .923 |
Brian Elliott 23 | Saves | Carter Hutton 36 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Philadelphia | 39 | 3 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 38 |
Buffalo | 23 | 0 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 23 |