"The Buffalo Sabres were in a 2-0 hole through 20 minutes Saturday, coming off the downer of Thursday's overtime loss at Carolina. They were on the road, in the rink of the top team in the Eastern Conference. Then they scored three goals to take the lead. Then they gave up what could have been a back-breaking short-handed goal. And they still didn't crack. In the end, they pulled out perhaps their most impressive win of the season. Jason Pominville's goal at 6:37 of the third period snapped a tie and Nathan Gerbe added an empty netter to cap a scintillating 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Wells Fargo Center. The Sabres are 4-0-2 under new owner Terry Pegula and are 2-0-1 on their seven-game road trip. They left immediately after the game for Minnesota, where they will meet the Wild tonight at 6. Jhonas Enroth, who was called up Friday but did not dress Saturday, is expected to start in goal. Buffalo got back within one point of eighth-place Carolina in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. The Hurricanes have 71 and the New York Rangers, who host the Flyers today, have 72. New York and Carolina were idle Saturday. "It's been an evolution as the season has gone on with guys gaining confidence," said goalie Ryan Miller, who made 33 saves. "You get the sense they feel like they know what they want to do on the ice more and more each night. It's a good sign. You have to have those kind of wins." Pominville won it by driving the net and tipping home Thomas Vanek's neat feed to the goalmouth past Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. "We always talk about that play," Vanek said. "If I'm going down the left side, I'll cut to the middle and try to feed him. We executed it well." It was a major moment of retribution for Vanek. With Buffalo leading, 3-2, he was stopped on an open one-timer during a second-period power play. A few seconds later, he was stripped at the blue line and Kimmo Timonen scored a short-handed goal to pull the Flyers into a 3-3 tie. When Pominville scored, Vanek pumped his fist several times while heading to congratulate his teammate. His relief was palpable. "It was a nice pass," Pominville said. "He was probably pumped because of that too. It was just a great play by him."" Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/article358946.ece
