Flyers snap scoring drought and defeat Sabres

BUFFALO - The Flyers avoided what would have been a dubious franchise record - being dealt three straight shutouts - as they overcame a listless first period and outlasted lowly Buffalo, 4-3, at the First Niagara Center on Saturday night.

"It was needed, for sure," said fourth-line left winger Chris VandeVelde after giving the Flyers the lead for good with a third-period goal. "We dropped a couple and had some ugly games there. It's good to bounce back, and hopefully we can build some momentum and get on a streak here."

For the first 20 minutes, the Flyers looked capable of dropping toward the bottom of the NHL pack, thereby increasing their chances to select can't-miss centers Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the June draft.

But after an awful opening period, they regrouped nicely and used third-period goals from VandeVelde and Michael Raffl to hand the Sabres their 10th straight regulation loss.

Pittsburgh was the last NHL team to lose 10 in a row in regulation, doing it in 2006.

VandeVelde went in on a breakaway and lost the puck, but it went through the legs of goalie Michal Neuvirth, putting the Flyers ahead, 3-2, with 14 minutes, 6 seconds to go.

"I don't even know how the goal went in, to be honest," said VandeVlede, laughing. "But it went in, and that's all that matters."

About three minutes later, Raffl scored after Neuvirth (3-13-1) left a juicy rebound following Michael Del Zotto's point shot.

Zemgus Girgensons' power-play goal - Buffalo pulled its goalie and had a six on four - cut it to 4-3 with 69 seconds left, but the Flyers survived.

With 17:49 left, Rob Zepp made a handful of saves after a wild flurry in front that included a shot by defenseman Tyler Myers. The play was reviewed in Toronto, and it was ruled the entire puck did not cross the goal line, keeping the game tied at 2.

Tyler Ennis tied the game at 2 with 55 seconds left in a Flyers-dominated second period, roofing a rebound past a fallen Zepp (3-1).

The Flyers huddled in the locker room after facing a 1-0 deficit at the first intermission.

"It was kind of like a lull," winger R.J. Umberger said. "There was a lot of talk in the locker room about being better. We knew if we worked, our skill would take over."

"We talked about how to generate some things offensively," said Del Zotto, who had two assists. "It was just a matter of making a few adjustments with how they were playing."

Second-period power-play goals by Umberger (deflection of Matt Read's shot) and Mark Streit about four minutes apart gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Umberger's goal ended the Flyers' scoring drought at 168:50, their fourth-longest in franchise history.

Streit's goal, assisted by all-stars Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek with 12:11 left in the second, was made possible by Wayne Simmonds' screen in front of Neuvirth.

With about 81/2 minutes remaining in the second, Zepp made a right-pad save to stop Girgensons on a shorthanded breakaway, keeping the visitors ahead, 2-1.

The Sabres carried a rare 1-0 lead into the second period. They had been outscored in first periods this season by 40-15.

Breakaways. Before the game, general manager Ron Hextall said he had no intentions of making a coaching change. . . . Hextall on the Flyers and their draft position: "You can't sit and say, 'OK, we'll just not win any games, and we'll get McDavid or Eichel.' That's not the way it works. You've got to have credibility." . . . Read had migraine headaches and was vomiting Friday night, prompting the Flyers to recall Jason Akeson from the Phantoms. But Read was able to play, and Akeson was a healthy scratch.

@BroadStBull

philly.com/broadstreetbull