Oh Danny Boy...

Posted 11:42 PM ET | Comments 3

Wow. I am just speechless, and that is not a common occurrence. What a game! It is a shame someone had to lose...but I am glad it was not the Flyers.

If you get a chance...read some thoughts from this morning...http://my.hockeybuzz.com/..._id=4461&user_id=3682

First, kudos to the Buffalo Sabres. They played a hell of a game and I thought we would get our doors blown off before the first period horn sounded. Fortunately, I think you thought that as well.

Secondly, hats off to Marty Biron. He could have folded like a cheap tent after a disasterous opening period. He didn't. He held the fort until the cavalry arrived and didn't let another one in until the shootout.

The cavalry happened to be found in the persons of Jeff Carter - on a sweet backhander upstairs on the breakaway, Scottie Hartnell - whose six shots tied the team lead for the night and who nailed a slapshot from the blueline past Ryan Miller and R.J. Umberger - whose powerplay goal sent the game to overtime and set the stage for #48 as he walked in from the top of the circle and measured a gorgeous wrister off the right post.

Then Hollywood took over.

Being the home team, the Sabres elected to shoot first. Tim Connolly - who yapped the whole game with anyone who would listen - got close enough to Biron for him to time a poke check for the denial. Kimmo Timonen skated in and faked a slap shot entirely too close to the net and ran out of real estate for his deek. 0-0. Ales Kotalik beat Biron glove side and the Sabres took the 1-0 lead. At that point, I have to admit,I thought it was over. Up stepped the red hot Jeff Carter who sent a laser over the shoulder of Ryan Miller to tie the shootout at one. Derek Roy stepped up and skated in very quickly but lost the handle on the puck and set the stage for Hollywood magic. The third Flyer to shoot had the chance to win the game, stop the 10 game losing streak and, perhaps, chance the fortunes of this team as we head down the stretch.

That shooter was ex-Sabre Co-Captain, Danny Briere. (I am not sure about Briere, but I had a lump the size of a grapefruit in my throat). Briere and Miller know each other very well. Briere swore that he was thinking backhand all the way in a post-game interview on VS. What transpired was the stuff of cinema. Briere took the puck at center ice, steamrolled in and made a triple-lindy move on a sprawled out Ryan Miller and tucked the puck just inside the left skate of the Sabres' netminder. The all hell broke loose on the Flyers' bench. Yes it was only a W in the column, but you might have thought it was a series clinching, game 7 goal. The bench exploded, sticks and gloves went up in the air and Briere was mobbed in a sea of Orange and Black. Just like that, the Flyers are back in the playoff hunt, leapfrogging over the Sabres into the 8th and final playoff position with 69 points. Almost as important, one of the Flyers' key players if things are to move ahead with a playoff push, got his Mojo back. Danny Briere erased a lot of negative kharma tonight. I am hopeful that now that his eyelids are unclogged that he can go on a tear and put this team on his back. (The rose goes in the front, big guy).

Oh Danny Boy...thank for taking the red pill.

The Flyers hope to string two wins together this Thursday against the Ottawa Senators - who were blown off the face of the map by the Sundin-led Maple Leafs tonight. The Orange and Black hope to avenge a stinging overtime, shootout loss against the Sens last Tuesday night.