East Division Update - March 31st

There was only one game tonight, and it featured the Buffalo Sabers and the Philadelphia Flyers in Buffalo, New York. This one was pretty lopsided but as always my analysis follows below.

(Image Credit: Broad Street Hockey)

FLYERS @ SABERS

This game was expected to be highly contested, especially after the way the last one between these two turned out. Philadelphia won in overtime on Monday night after trailing 3-0 in the third period. The Sabers came in losers of 18 straight, and had to win a game at some point. Buffalo played their hearts out in this one, beating the Flyers bad in a 6-1 win. Philly is struggling immensely in the goaltending department, with neither one of their goaltenders playing up to par. The Flyers pulled BrIan Elliot in the second period and replaced him with rookie goaltender Alex Lyon, who was looking to get some NHL experience. The yanking of Elliot wasn't really his fault, as his team in front of him should absolutely be to blame. The Sabers finally got a win and were able to play a full 60 minutes for the first time in a very long time. Linus Ullmark made 31 saves on 32 shots in goal for Buffalo. On another note, Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault called out goaltender Carter Hart yesterday in a press conference, saying he wasn’t “working hard enough, and needs to work harder and better”. I think this had something to do with him not playing tonight, and will be interested to see how getting called out by the coach publicly is reflected in his play the rest of the season.

Scoring:

Flyers: Ivan Proverov (6).

Sabers: Sam Reinhart (13), Curtis Lazar (5), Steven Fogarty (1st NHL Goal), Casey Mittelstadt (2), Brandon Montour (3,4 - SHG’s).

Standings Update After Tonight:

1. Washington

2. NY Islanders (Tied 2nd, 48 Points)

3. Pittsburgh (Tied - 2nd, 48 Points)

4. Boston

5. Philadelphia

6. NY Rangers

7. New Jersey

8. Buffalo