Flyers Fall Short Against Sabres

All good things must come to an end, including the Flyers' five-game winning streak.

Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Miller stopped 29 shots to help the Sabres to the 3-2 win on Saturday night at the Wachovia Center in South Philly.

Ennis, the 26th pick in the 2008 draft, earned a spot in the Buffalo lineup in place of injured right-winger Drew Stafford.

“You dream of playing in the NHL, and that first goal was just indescribable,” Ennis said. “It was really just extreme excitement hopping on the ice for the first time, a pretty awesome feeling.”

“I thought he (Ennis) played a great game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “He gave us some energy, he made a couple of great plays. He could have had a couple of goals in the game ... and he even took a run at (Chris) Pronger.”

Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad also scored for the Sabres, who never trailed and won their third straight game.

The Flyers tried to make it interesting at the end. Pronger and Jeff Carter netted third-period goals for the Flyers.

Miller (12-2-1) was aided by a strong Buffalo defense that constantly thwarted the Flyers from in close. He was at his best midway through the second period when he stopped Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell on the doorstep on successive flurries.

“We made it harder by playing catch-up hockey with penalties in the first period,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “We got frustrated a little bit and allowed them to get a little momentum.”

Pronger brought the Flyers to within 2-1 at 2:43 of the third when he snapped a shot through a screen, but Gaustad restored Buffalo's two-goal edge at 6:25 on a power play.

Carter scored a short-handed goal during a skirmish in front of the net at 10:21 to again bring the Flyers within one goal.

The Sabres were still thinking about the Flyers' 5-2 win in Buffalo on Nov. 6, said Briere.

“I think their coaching staff used that game as motivation,'' said Briere, a former Sabres player.