Flyers rally, edge Sabres in overtime

BUFFALO, New York — Claude Giroux scored 2:27 into overtime for the Philadelphia Flyers, who overcame a three-goal, first-period deficit and beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Options: Flyers right wing Jaromir Jagr moves the puck as he is chased by Sabres defenseman Brayden McNabb in the first period in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday. Philadelphia won 5-4. AP PHOTO

Rookie Matt Read, Scott Hartnell, and Jaromir Jagr scored in the second period, and Maxime Talbot added goals for Philadelphia, which led 4-3 in the third.

The Flyers (16-7-3) scored four times on 10 shots bridging the first and second periods after falling behind 3-0 to win their third straight.

Philadelphia also climbed out of a three-goal hole on Friday at Anaheim and won on another overtime goal by Giroux, who added three assists against the Sabres. Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves.

"That's the type of team we are, we don't quit," said Giroux, who surged to the top of the NHL scoring race with a four-point night. "We have a lot of character, and we're having a lot of fun here. The second period we played our game, and the third period, too."

Zack Kassian had a goal and an assist, and Ville Leino, Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres (14-11-2), who have lost three of four.

Buffalo's Ryan Miller, playing in his second game after returning from a concussion/neck injury, stopped 29 shots.

After a Sabres turnover in the Philadelphia end, Giroux skated in on Miller on a breakaway and slipped the puck in on a deke for the winner.

After Buffalo blew its three-goal lead and fell behind, Stafford tied it at 4 with 1:35 left in regulation — scoring his fifth goal of the season after the Sabres pulled Miller for an extra attacker.

The Flyers got within 3-2 at 5:17 of the second period when Read deflected defenseman Kimmo Timonen's slap shot from the left point and sent the puck squirting past Miller.

Hartnell tied it at 3 with 5:05 to go in the second when his wrist shot from the right faceoff dot deflected in off the skate of Buffalo defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

"It's something you don't want to do, get behind three goals, because sooner or later it's going to come back and become a bad loss," Hartnell said. "But there was lots of hockey left, and we kept going. As the game went on, we got stronger and stronger."

Jagr gave the Flyers their first lead with his ninth goal with 2:12 left in the second, wristing in a shot from the top of the left circle to make it 4-3.

Capitals 5, Senators 3

In Ottawa, Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored one of three straight goals by the Capitals in the third period.

Nicklas Backstrom tied it at 2 with his 10th goal on a power play 9:45 into the third. He earned his 19th assist on Ovechkin's go-ahead goal at 13:50.

Troy Brouwer scored 15 seconds later to make it a 4-2. John Carlson, who had two assists, scored into an empty net at 19:14 for his third point.

Hurricanes 5, Oilers 3

In Edmonton, Carolina coach Kirk Muller earned his first win behind the Hurricanes bench, and his club snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over the Oilers.

Jeff Skinner, Jamie McBain, Patrick Dwyer, Chad LaRose and Tuomo Ruutu scored for the Hurricanes (9-17-4), who won their first game in five tries under Muller, a first-time NHL coach. Tomas Kaberle added two assists.

Carolina was 0-6-1 in its previous seven games and 0-5 since Muller took over for the fired Paul Maurice on Nov. 28.

COLUMBUS OHIO — The struggling Blue Jackets have named Craig Patrick, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and a two-time Stanley Cup champion, their new senior advisor of hockey operations.

Patrick, 65, will be responsible for advising general manager Scott Howson on trades and free-agent signings. He will also evaluate Blue Jackets' prospects playing in the AHL and ECHL.

"He possesses a wealth of experience," Howson said. "His insight and knowledge will be invaluable to the Blue Jackets."

View the original article here