Fourth line carries Flyers to win over Sabres

That meant that the Flyers' other two lines contributed to only 14 percent of their 72 points.

Last night, the Flyers showed why they - and not Buffalo - are one of the deepest teams in the Eastern Conference with a comprehensive 5-2 beating of the Sabres at a sold-out HSBC Arena. Dan Carcillo notched two goals, including an empty-netter to seal the game late in the third period, and his "fourth-line" mates Ian Laperriere and Blair Betts set up a third.

It was Carcillo's first multigoal game since April 4, 2008, when he was with Phoenix.

"That line has been tremendous," Stevens said. "Tonight more than other nights, they created a lot of offensive opportunities just from really good work below the goal line.

"We've had to change some things around because of the injuries we've had, but we think we're a four-line team, too."

Carcillo's line, which battled in the corners and followed the Flyers' mantra over the last two games of tough play in front of the net, kicked off the game's scoring when Carcillo batted down a Braydon Coburn slap shot.

They finished a plus-3.

"We just play great together," Carcillo said. "We just complement each other really well. I think we can all play and really play against any line in the league. We can all skate and play the same type of game."

But that wasn't the only line that contributed. Darroll Powe scored his fourth goal of the young season, unassisted, on a clean slap shot that beat Ryan Miller.

It was a night that, coming off the flu bug, the Flyers beat Buffalo (9-3-1) in every category that the Sabres seemed to have the edge on coming in: depth, goaltending and faceoffs. The Flyers (8-4-1) topped Buffalo, the league's fourth-best faceoff team, on 31 of 58 draws.

Ray Emery looked like the better goaltender, even though Miller entered the game sporting a gaudy, NHL-best .941 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average.

Emery had 28 saves, and multiple big ones in the second half to keep Buffalo at bay. Even with traffic jams in front of him, Emery did a good job of keeping his eye on the puck through difficult tips and deflections.

"If Emery didn't play as well as he did, things could have went the other way," Betts said. "There were times that we were back on our heels. They're a good team, they're good for a reason."

Both Sabres goals came on the power play. Derek Roy used a strange, behind-the-net carom to punch in a rebound in the second period, while rookie defenseman Tyler Myers sneaked a weak backhander through Emery's pads with fewer than 10 minutes to play in a 4-1 game.

The fourth line helped erase those goals by playing more minutes than it had in any game all season.

"The more you play, the more chances you're going to end up getting," Betts said.

"It's something that I don't think anyone on our line is used to consistently contributing [to the scoresheet]. The coaching staff showed confidence by putting us on the ice against their top line."

In this all-around team effort, the Flyers got scoring help from their defense for the fourth straight game when Chris Pronger scored on a high wrister only 28 seconds into the second period. That gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead, which was important when Roy responded for Buffalo exactly 4 minutes later.

James van Riemsdyk regained the two-goal cushion a little more than 10 minutes later.

Buffalo wasn't a threat for the rest of the night.

The convincing win didn't just give the Flyers a victory over a tough Buffalo team. It catapulted them to a three-game winning streak and enabled them to make ground on the other Atlantic Division teams that have at least three or four more games played.

"We've wanted to get on a roll," Carcillo said. "You don't just want to win one, lose one. We've got some games in hand. The only way to make up the points is to win those games."

Slap shots

 

The Flyers failed to score a power-play goal for the first time in three games . . . The Flyers wore their black jerseys on the road last night. They are required to wear black 12 times per year, with the new, orange sweaters in the fold. Rather than bring two sets on a long road trip (like next week's 9-day West Coast swing), a short hop to Buffalo works best . . . Ian Laperriere collected his 200th assist last night on Dan Carcillo's first period goal . . . Danny Briere will not play in tonight's game with St. Louis. His lower groin injury is not fully healed . . . Approximately 1,100 tickets remain for tonight's game.

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers.