Simmonds, Flyers top Sabres 7-2

February 17, 2012

The Flyers just keep getting hit with injury after injury.

In the pre-game warmups of Thursday night's game, however, the team had one more to add to the list.

Flyers.NHL.com, Getty Images

Wayne Simmonds got hit in the face with a puck, that gave him a bloodied lip, and caused him to lose a few teeth. But that did not stop him from playing.

Instead, Simmonds played the entire game wearing a full visor attached to his helmet, and played an excellent game.

Returning from the flu was Ilya Bryzgalov, who did not play in the last two games.

The Flyers had three days off since their last game against Detroit, and there were signs of rust.

Bryzgalov allowed two first period goals to Jason Pominville (22, 5:15), and Thomas Vanek (21, 9:30). He, along with the rest of the team, were booed off the ice at the end of the period.

Perhaps that was a spark the team needed, because in the second, the Flyers erupted.

Max Talbot scored not even a minute in to the second (15, 0:54) to get things going for the Flyers.

Then Wayne Simmonds scored the next two goals (19, 3:32) (20, 6:49), both on the power play, to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

Simmonds' two goals also made a huge impact on the game.

Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff started goaltender Jhonas Enroth, but he was pulled immediately after the Flyers took their first lead of the game.

Ryan Miller subbed in for Enroth, but it did not help, as Erik Gustaffson scored his first NHL goal (1, 13:48) to give the Flyers a two goal lead, and their fourth goal in the period.

In the third, the Flyers continued their surge.

Philadelphia racked up three more goals by Talbot (16, 3:58), Jake Voracek (10, 4:29), and Scott Hartnell (27, 9:25).

Claude Giroux did not score, but recorded five assists against the Sabres.

After a shaky first period, where Bryzgalov let up two goals, he stopped every shot that followed. Bryzgalov made 27 saves off of the Sabre's 29 shots.

Enroth only had 26:49 of ice time, and made only 15 saves out of 18 Flyers shots.

Miller did not do any better, saving only 13 of 17 shots in the remainder of the game.

The Flyers win by a final of 7-2.

At 32-18-7, the Flyers have 71 points. That puts them ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points for fourth in the Eastern Conference, but they trail the Rangers in first, by eight points.

The Penguins will play the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center, on Saturday afternoon. Coverage starts at 1:00 PM.

Extra Notes: Danny Briere left the game in the second period, after being checked into the boards by Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta.

Tommy Sestito also left the game.

Paul Holmgren announced that Briere has an upper-body injury, and Sestito has a lower-body injury.

Andrej Meszaros did not play Thursday night because of an upper-body injury. Meszaros is day-to-day.

Box Score
http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400047165