Flyers explode for 6 even-strength goals in crucial win over Sabres

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Power plays have propelled the Flyers to most of their victories this season. On Tuesday night, they flexed their even-strength muscle.

The Flyers scored all of their goals in 5-on-5 situations in a 6-3 victory over the Sabres (see Instant Replay). It was the third six-goal game of the season for the Flyers, and the first time they scored that many goals at even strength.

Entering Tuesday night, the Flyers had been outscored 127-91 in 5-on-5 situations and had scored 69 percent of their goals at even strength, the lowest rate in the NHL.

What did the Flyers do differently against the Sabres?

"I wouldn't be able to put my finger on it," captain Claude Giroux said. "I think we've been playing well 5-on-5. We're not changing anything. We're playing the same. We're just getting the results now. The pucks are going in and we are getting traffic and our goals are around the net."

"Tonight shows what we're capable of 5-on-5," said rookie Travis Konecny, who had a goal and an assist in the third period in his second game back after missing nine with knee and ankle injuries. "We moved the puck well and we just stuck to our game."

In dominating at even strength, the Flyers made up for a lackluster special teams performance. They went scoreless on three early power plays and are now 0 for 13 with the man advantage over the past three games. Meanwhile, the Sabres needed only 18 seconds of power-play time to score their first two goals.

But after successfully killing a penalty midway through the second period, the Flyers took control of the game, scoring four goals over the next 15 minutes (see feature highlight).

"We won a lot of battles and cycled the puck down low hard," said Sean Couturier, who tallied two assists. "We kind of beat guys down low and brought the puck to the net hard after so it's a little different and it paid off tonight."

Defensemen Radko Gudas and Michael Del Zotto were on the ice for five of the Flyers' six goals. Gudas had a goal and two assists for his first three-point night of the season and first multi-point game since Nov. 17. Del Zotto assisted on two goals for his first multi-point game of the season. Both had season-high plus-five ratings.

"These nights don't come for me very often," Gudas said. "If I can contribute for the team, it's very fun for me and it makes the game extra special."

Giroux scored for the first time in 13 games when he knocked in a rebound of Del Zotto's shot from the point late in the second period to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead.

"It's good to see him score, but I think he could have buried one the last couple of games," Gudas said. "The bounces just didn't go his way."

Matt Read, Jordan Weal and Chris VandeVelde also scored for the Flyers. Ten different players had points.

"It's a boost for the confidence," Couturier said. "Everyone contributing, we've got all four lines rolling and that's what we need the rest of the year if we want to make the playoffs."

The Flyers have now earned seven points over their last four games. With 70 points on the season, they remain three behind the Islanders for the final wild-card spot. They are one point behind Toronto, which they visit on Thursday.

"This week is definitely the biggest week of the year to date," Konecny said. "I'm sure there will be more of these as we go through the end of the season here. It's important and it's big that we're getting wins like that and we're starting to play our game."

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