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Sabres send Flyers to third straight loss

Mar 5, 2011 - 10:04 PM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Jason Pominville scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres inched closer to a playoff spot with a 5-3 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis and Andrej Sekera scored 3:40 apart during the second period for Buffalo, which improved to 2-0-1 on its seven-game road trip and moved to within a point of eighth-place Carolina in the East.

Brad Boyes and Thomas Vanek both collected two assists, while Ryan Miller made 33 saves to pick up his 28th win of the season.

"Anything is possible [when the] team hunkers down and wants to work and get pucks to the net," Miller said. "We got pucks to the net and got the bounces we were looking for and we capitalized on the chances."

Kris Versteeg, James van Riemsdyk and Kimmo Timonen tallied for the Flyers, who have lost three straight for the first time since November 26-December 1. Philadelphia hadn't dropped three in a row in regulation since October 14-21.

"We're playing teams that are battling for their lives, and they are going to be desperate and play with a lot of determination and desire, and we have to match that if we want to win hockey games," said Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger.

Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots in defeat.

Pominville drove the net and tapped Vanek's feed between the legs of Bobrovsky, giving Buffalo a 4-3 lead at the 6:37 mark of the third period.

Moments later, Miller fired the puck over the glass but the Flyers failed to capitalize on the delay-of-game penalty.

Nathan Gerbe hit an empty net to seal the victory with 1:04 remaining.

The Flyers built a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Versteeg and van Riemsdyk.

Philadelphia's struggling power play opened the scoring at 12:44. Versteeg, who supplied both goals in Thursday's 3-2 home loss to Toronto, converted a feed from Matt Carle. The Flyers had gone four straight games without a power- play goal and were just 1-for-23 over their last seven.

Less than five minutes later, van Riemsdyk looked to pass to Jeff Carter on an odd-man rush before flicking a backhander past Miller, doubling the advantage with 2:38 remaining.

Buffalo surged ahead in the second period.

Stafford put the Sabres on the board at 6:52, then Ennis threw a shot on net from a sharp angle that deflected in off Philadelphia's Sean O'Donnell at 8:48. Sekera capped the outburst at 10:32, scoring on a wraparound after his first two first bids were thwarted.

The Flyers pulled even on Timonen's 100th career goal with 6:37 left in the middle stanza. The Finn reached the century mark while Versteeg served a slashing penalty. Timonen took a pass from Braydon Coburn, who did a great job to keep the puck in the Buffalo zone, and lifted a shot over the glove of Miller.

Game Notes

Philadelphia has lost five of seven overall...Buffalo's Paul Gaustad picked up two assists...The Flyers have scored 11 short-handed goals this season.