Flyers Sabres Playoff Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers score against Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.

This isn't the normal Philadelphia- New York match-up you'd expect, but it's exciting nonetheless. The road back to the Stanley Cup begins on Thursday night for the Philadelphia Flyers who will take on the Buffalo Sabres in the first round. The two teams have essentially been going in opposite directions for some time, as the Flyers have struggled greatly down the stretch, who hope to turn things around as the playoffs begin, while the Sabres finished the season strong and will look to continue their hot play in the post season. This should be a back-and-forth series, with coach Peter Laviolette stating "It's hard to make excuses for our play." In their last 10 games, Buffalo ended at 8-1-1, while Philadelphia was 3-4-3.

Season Series
October 26, 2010: (Flyers 6 Sabres 3) The Flyers won this game at home mainly because of the strong play of Jeff Carter. Carter had 3 points in the game, a goal and 2 assists to give the Flyers the Victory. Danny Briere also had a goal and 2 assists to help the Flyers score 6 goals. Sergei Bobrovsky had a solid game saving 32 of the 35 shots he faced.
January 11, 2011: (Flyers 5 Sabres 2) In this game, the Flyers battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period, and scored 5 unanswered goals to beat the Sabres. Scott Hartnell had 2 goals in the game, and Sergei Bobrovsky had a strong game. After a disappointing first period in which Bob gave up 2 goals, Bobrovsky finished the game strong recording 38 saves on 40 shots.
March 5, 2011: (Sabres 5 Flyers 3) The Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this game but were unable to battle back after Bobrovsky gave up 3 second period goals. The game was tied going into the third, but the Sabres scored 2 third period goals to earn the victory.
April 8, 2011: (Sabres 4 Flyers 3 OT) In the second to last game of the season, the Flyers battled hard, and had the lead in the third period until Nathan Gerbe tied the game at 3 with his second goal of the night. After pulling goalie Jhonas Enroth, Ryan Miller played the third period for the Sabres and did not allow a goal. Sergei Bobrosky allowed an overtime goal, and the Sabres won, splitting the season series 2-2.

Buffalo advances if:

• Their forwards remain hot and healthy, led by Thomas Vanek, who led the team in goals (32), assists (41) and points (73).

• Brad Boyes, Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis, Tim Connolly, along with Nathan Gerbe help out Vanek in the scoring department, who, coincidentally, accounted for 53% of the team's goals in the regular season.
• Their young, up-and-coming defensive core of Sekara, Butler, Myers and Weber continue to develop as a team, led by Steve Montador and Jordan Leopold, who were the team's leader in +/- and defensive goals scored, respectively.
• Vezina-winner Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth show Philadelphia what they usually lack and what has faltered down the strech; solid net-minding.

Philadelphia advances if:

• Chris Pronger and Danny Briere returns healthy, ready to led the team in Time on Ice once again.
• The team starts to get hot, playing smart defense and protecting their goalies Boucher and Bobrovsky. This is what happened last year with their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
• Boucher and Bobrovsky step it up, somehow reversing what appears to be fatigue setting in on them.
• The Flyers can shift the momentum of the two opposite teams, proving the doubters wrong when it comes to what some writers are calling, a "collapse".

Overall, this should be a closer series than one might expect. Assuming Ryan Miller comes back from an injury, the advantage would apparently lie within Buffalo's hands, but Miller is 4-4-0 with a 3.26 GAA against Philadelphia in his last 8 games. However, this is a Buffalo team that has increased their power play success, something they were lacking from last year's playoffs. The return of Danny Briere against his former team is a huge factor as well, considering Briere has three goals in four games with five assists versus Buffalo. Whatever the case may be, History starts now. History will be made.