Briere lifts Sabres over Flyers in OT

Hockey Betting Lines

11/12/2006 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Briere's power-play tally just 21 seconds into overtime lifted the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

In the extra session, the Flyers won the neutral zone draw before the Sabres gained possession of the puck. Jason Pominville slid the disc to Briere, who unleashed a slap shot from the middle of the left circle that beat Antero Niittymaki's short side to win the game.

Briere finished the game with two goals for the Sabres, who have won three straight. The center also scored the game-tying shot late in the third stanza.

Martin Biron stopped 26 shots in net for his fifth win of the season.

Paul Gaustad, Pominville and Drew Stafford tallied the regulation goals for Buffalo while Brian Campbell added two assists.

Randy Robitaille scored twice for Philadelphia, which dropped its fifth straight. R.J. Umberger netted one, and Alexandre Picard added his first career NHL goal in the loss. Niittymaki stopped 32-of-37 shots in defeat.

Philadelphia remains winless in the month of November. Its last win came October 30 against Chicago.

Buffalo carried a 3-2 lead into the third, but the Flyers momentum carried over as well.

Umburger knotted up the game just 20 seconds into the stanza. The center took a nice backhand feed from Ben Eager in the neutral zone, then beat Burin with a wrist shot through a screen to earn his fourth of the season.

A fantastic play by Geoff Sanderson then set up the go-ahead goal. Sanderson made a diving stop to knock the puck out of the air at the blue line, keeping it in the Flyers zone. The defenseman dished to Kyle Calder, who set up Robitaille's backhand shot at 11:29.

The wild play continued as the Sabres evened the score with 2:59 left in regulation. Brian Campbell fired a shot toward the net that was stopped by Niittymaki, but Briere followed up with a quick wrister, then gathered his own rebound and poked it home to make it a 4-4 contest.

Then, with 30.9 seconds remaining in the game, the Flyers were whistled for having too many men on the ice and Buffalo went on the man advantage. The power play carried into overtime, as the Sabres capitalized to win the game.

The tally was only the second power play scored against Philadelphia at home in 42 chances.

Philadelphia opened the scoring in the first, as Robitaille notched a power play goal for the 1-0 lead. The Flyers set things up nicely, moving the puck from behind the net and back to the point. Petr Nedved gained possession and passed to Joni Pitkanen, who launched a slap shot that deflected off Teppo Numminen. The puck bounced right to Robitaille, who buried it in the back of the twine at 13:05.

The Sabres evened things up on a nifty move by Gaustad for his second goal of the season. Gaustad waited down low, getting his stick in front of defender Derian Hatcher just off Niitymaki's right side. Thomas Vanek delivered a cross-ice pass and Gaustad sent the puck into the empty net with 6:12 left in the first stanza.

Buffalo went up 2-1 early in the second on Pominville's 10th goal of the season. Pominville corralled the puck off the giveaway from Sami Kapanen and rifled a slap shot past Niitymaki at 1:40.

The Sabres added another tally at 12:02, as the shot by Draw Stafford trickled off Niittymaki's pads and between his legs to put Buffalo up 3-1.

The Flyers frustrations started to boil over after that point, as Mike Richards and Eager both dropped the gloves. Richards went toe-to-toe with Nathan Paetsch while Eager battled Adam Mair. All four players were assessed fighting majors, and Mair left the ice bleeding from a cut above his lip.

The brawls seemed to inspire Philadelphia, as the Flyers trimmed the Buffalo advantage to 3-2. Kapanen won the draw in the defensive zone and sent the puck back to Picard, who unleashed a 57-foot slap shot that beat Biron's glove-side at 15:46.

Game Notes

Flyers captain Peter Forsberg did not play because of a mild right ankle sprain. He is listed as day-to-day...The Flyers are 0-10-0 when trailing after two periods...Buffalo has won nine straight on the road...The Flyers finished 1-for-1 on the power play while Buffalo ended 1-for-4.