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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- In the seventh game of the season, the
Flyers finally won.
|  | | Philadelphia's Daymond Langkow, left, charges the net while trying unsuccessfully to get the puck past Buffalo goalie Dwayne Roloson. |
Philadelphia overcame a second-period defensive lapse when it
allowed two goals in a span of 1:17, by scoring three goals in the
third period to defeat the winless Buffalo Sabres 5-2 Sunday night.
Eric Lindros and Valeri Zelepukin scored 21 seconds apart in the
third period before Eric Desjardins netted his first goal of the
year to end Philadelphia's franchise-worst 0-5-1 start.
Lindros was stoic but relieved afterward.
"We were playing some good hockey and not getting wins, for one
reason or another it was not happening," said the Flyers captain,
who before the season said this year was crucial for himself and
the team. "Everything gets magnified because it is the start of
the season.
"It is nice to get this win and move on," he added.
It wasn't as nice for the Sabres, who extended their winless
streak to six games (0-4-2), their worst start since going 0-4-3 in
1990-91.
"Obviously it's frustrating right now, you got to worry," said Sabres captain Michael Peca, whose team lost the Stanley Cup finals last season to the Dallas Stars. "The results right now at this point in the season are unacceptable."
Lindros' goal, his third of the season, came as he sped down the
ice on an odd-man rush and fired Mikael Renberg's pass through
Sabres goalie Dwayne Roloson's legs to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead at 7:03 of the third period.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Zelepukin sent the crowd into a frenzy
after one-timing Daymond Langkow's pass past a screened Roloson to
give the Flyers a two-goal lead.
Philadelphia outshot Buffalo 34-15 to win a physical game that
featured big saves by goalie John Vanbiesbrouck after a tough
second-period stretch in which he allowed two even-strength goals.
Entering Sunday's game, the Flyers were outscored 15-4 during
even-strength situations.
The Sabres' Erik Rasmussen scored his first goal of the year to
tie the game 4:16 into the second period, before Michal Grosek
deflected James Patrick's shot past Vanbiesbrouck more than a minute later to give Buffalo a brief 2-1 lead.
John LeClair tied it at 10:48 of the second period with a
power-play goal before the Flyers' three-goal outburst in the
third.
"I felt a lot more confident when we scored three goals. I
guess the most important thing is that we can smile and feel good
for a couple of days," said Vanbiesbrouck, who made 13 saves.
Vanbiesbrouck said a physical first period set the tone for the
rest of the game. The first 20 minutes featured two fights and lots
of checking, to the delight of the crowd.
"The team played pretty well, but all of a sudden at the end of
the third period, it went downhill," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Buffalo called a players-only meeting after the game.
"Anytime you don't win it is frustrating. Philly was frustrated
too and we're a frustrated team," he added. "That's what happens
when you lose."
Rookie Simon Gagne added his third goal of the year, on the power play, while Mark Recchi had three assists for the Flyers. Recchi has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his last five games.
"We were extremely, extremely emotional with our passion to
want to win the hockey game," Vanbiesbrouck said. "I think the
fans deserve that emotion and I think that if we play with that
emotion most nights, we're going to win hockey games."
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NY Rangers 4
Atlanta 1
Philadelphia 5
Buffalo 2
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