Monday, March 29, 2021 07:00 PM (ET)

Sabres' winless skid hits 18 with OT loss to Flyers

Field Level Media
Mar 30, 2021

Ivan Provorov scored 42 seconds into overtime, and the visiting Philadelphia Flyers overcame a three-goal, third-period deficit to extend the Buffalo Sabres' franchise-record winless streak to 18 games with a 4-3 victory on Monday night.

Off a two-on-one with Travis Konecny, Provorov slid the puck past Buffalo netminder Linus Ullmark to cap a remarkable comeback for the Flyers, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from Feb. 24-28.

Philadelphia has also won five straight against the Sabres, who are 0-15-3 since winning at New Jersey on Feb. 23 -- the NHL's longest winless stretch since Pittsburgh went 18 in a row without a victory in 2003-04.

Buffalo led 3-0 when Philadelphia finally got on the board via Kevin Hayes' short one-timer that slid in, after hitting the post and bouncing off Ullmark (32 saves), just 1:50 into the final period. The Flyers made it 3-2 with 9:09 left in the third when Claude Giroux drove home a pass from Sean Couturier to keep the pressure on the Sabres.

With goalie Brian Elliott (29 saves) off for the extra skater, Philadelphia tied the game with 1:29 to play in regulation when Couturier got to the puck amid traffic in front of the net and nicked it past Ullmark. That came moments after Buffalo narrowly missed an empty-net goal.

Buffalo put 13 shots on Elliott's net in the first period, and was finally rewarded for the effort with 2:19 left in the opening frame. Taking a pass from Curtis Lazar, defenseman Henri Jokiharju skated in all alone and put the puck through Elliott's legs for a 1-0 lead.

The Sabres made it 2-0 just 2:10 into the second period when Cody Eakin blasted a shot between two Philadelphia defenders that beat Elliott on the short side. With 7:17 left in the middle frame, it was defenseman Brandon Montour, set up nicely by Tage Thompson, who beat Elliott on the glove side to give Buffalo a three-goal edge.

--Field Level Media

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