Flyers 4, Sabres 2
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.