FLYERS NEWS

It's over, it's finally over and none too soon. A season that just weeks ago had started to look so promising for Flyers, had begun to unravel over the last week in and a half in the wake of a 10 game losing streak. Tonight, however, a miracle rally against the Buffalo Sabres finally got the Flyers out of it. Marty Biron got the start in goal and after having a rough start, allowing three goals in the first period, he buckled down and kept Buffalo out of the net the rest of the way, setting the stage for an Orange and black comeback. Early in the first period of play, Derek Roy and Chris Macarthur each scored for a quick 2-0 Sabres lead. Then late in period Jay Pominiville scored for a 3-0 Sabres lead. Finally Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter answered a few minutes later to cut the lead to a manageable 3-2 heading into the 2nd period. In the 2nd period the two teams went scoreless. In the 3rd period it became a real test of wills, that Buffalo appeared to be winning, but with just over 8 minutes to play in the period, R.J Umberger slapped in the equalizer and it was all tied at 3. An overtime period then yielded only 4 shots on goal and no results. So the game went to a decisive shootout, usually a harbinger of impending doom for the Flyers, but not this time. In the first round of the shootout both teams failed to score. In the second round of the shootout, Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers, and Jan Spacek scored for the Sabres. In the 3rd round of the shootout Derek Roy failed to score for the Sabres, so it came down to a final confrontation between ex-Sabre captain Danny Briere and current Sabre goalie Ryan Miller. This time with a perfect fake, Briere prevailed and the Flyers had won 4-3 for 2 big points. So the Flyers improve to 31-25-7 overall, remain 4th in the Atlantic division, but move back up into 8th in the Eastern conference, for that coveted final playoff spot.