Nov 22, 2008 - 1:22 AM
0 shoutsBUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- With the emergence of Ryan Miller, there was no room in Buffalo for Martin Biron anymore. The veteran showed them what they are missing on Friday.
Jeff Carter scored a pair of goals and Biron made 40 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 3-0 victory over the Sabres.
Scott Hartnell also tallied and defenseman Andrew Alberts extended his assists streak to four games for Philadelphia, which has won three in a row and four of five (4-0-1).
Miller made 22 saves for the Sabres, who have lost four straight games and fell to 1-5-1 in their last seven.
"Right now, we're a little bit frustrated, but it's something we need to deal with right now," Buffalo's Daniel Paille said. "We'll come back tomorrow ready to play (the New York Islanders) and forget about today. We did a lot of things well today. We just have to bring it tomorrow."
Biron, who was traded to Philadelphia in February 2007, turned aside 12 shots in the first period, 13 in the second and 15 in the third en route to his first shutout of the season and 24th of his career. Eighteen of the blankings came while the 31-year-old was with Buffalo, where he played from 1998-2007 after being drafted 16th overall in 1995.
"Shutouts are nice, but you take the good and the bad out of them because it wasn't a perfect game for me," Biron said. "We pulled it off, which is the key at the end."
"Marty looks good right now," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "His whole routine, he does what is necessary to get ready. He works on parts of his game that, if there's any doubt, he solidifies it. He's a confident guy in the net right now."
Biron was thrilled to be back in his former home.
"It's always going to be something special playing here," he said. "You walk in and see the security guys, the maintenance guys, the TV guys, the reporters - that's always fun. These are people who were my friends for many years. I like coming back and seeing them again. I wish I came back more often."
Hartnell gave Biron all the support he needed late in the first period. After exiting the penalty box following a slashing infraction and receiving a pass from Simon Gagne, Hartnell raced in on a breakaway and deked Miller to the ice before lifting a backhander into the net with 58 seconds remaining for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
"I came out (of the box), I saw Gagne knew the penalty was ending and he chipped (the puck) out," Hartnell said. "I was able to knock it down. I was cheating a little bit. I was able to make the first move, got it to my backhand and put it upstairs."
Biron made several big stops against his former club, denying rookie Mark Mancari from alone in front with three minutes left in the first period and making a right pad save on league-leading goal-scorer Thomas Vanek during a breakaway just over five minutes into the second.
"Marty played his best game of the season so far," Hartnell said. "He's getting better and better. A little bit earlier, he was a little down on himself, but confidence is a weird thing. Right now, he's riding high, and we're playing well in front of him. And he's making the key stops when we're not there."
"Marty played well," Mancari said. "We definitely peppered him with shots. He had a lot of help defensively. After a rebound or two, they'd clear it, go down the other way and get an opportunity. I thought Marty played pretty well."
Biron's biggest save came at 5:40 of the third.
With Philadelphia clinging to a 1-0 lead, Derek Roy skated around Carter in the left circle and dished the puck to Drew Stafford. With practically the entire net at which to shoot, Stafford slid the puck into the pads of a sprawled Biron, who quickly froze it.
"I went the other way across the crease," Stafford said. "I was kind of hoping to chisel that one, but it's frustrating. ... You only get those chances so often."
The on-ice officials originally believed Stafford scored, but video review proved the puck never crossed the goal line, keeping the Flyers ahead.
"We did a great job making the goaltender look good," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "I mean, we missed - on my count - four wide-open shots. (Stafford) missed two, (Jason Pominville) one open net. But when you aren't going good, you don't get the breaks. When you're going good, you get the breaks.
"Before they scored their one goal, we probably should have scored three. When they don't go in, it's frustrating."
After a scoreless middle session, Carter added insurance at 8:19 of the third. The Flyers' leading scorer against the Sabres last season with five points, Carter gloved the puck out of mid-air at the right point, skated around a defender and unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat Miller for a 2-0 advantage.
"I came off the bench, (rookie Jonathon) Kalinski's line with (Josh) Gratton and (Arron) Asham made the break," Carter said. "I was lucky to get a little bounce in the slot, get it on net and lucky to get it in there."
Carter sealed the victory with exactly one minute remaining, depositing the puck into an empty net for his team-leading 13th tally of the campaign.
From the Bleachers
-
PHILADELPHIA: 3
BUFFALO: 0
Final
Nov 21 10:00 PM -
NHL
PHILADELPHIA 3
BUFFALO 0
3RD PRD: PHI - (EN) JEFF CARTER 13 (UNASSISTED) 19:00
Nov 21 9:58 PM -
NHL
PHILADELPHIA 2
BUFFALO 0
3RD PRD: PHI - JEFF CARTER 12 (JOSH GRATTON) 8:19
Nov 21 9:40 PM -
PHILADELPHIA: 1
BUFFALO: 0
End of 2nd
Nov 21 9:06 PM -
PHILADELPHIA: 1
BUFFALO: 0
End of 1st
Nov 21 8:13 PM -
NHL
PHILADELPHIA 1
BUFFALO 0
1ST PRD: PHI - SCOTT HARTNELL 5 (UNASSISTED) 19:02
Nov 21 8:12 PM
