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Flyers are familiar with adversity, winning in Game 7; History isn’t on Sabres’ side

Tyler Ennis, Claude Giroux

Buffalo Sabres’ Tyler Ennis, top, rolls over Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux in the third period in Game 5 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series, Friday, April 22, 2011, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

AP

One could probably argue that almost every playoff game can reveal something about a given team, but nothing really etches a team’s story in stone quite like a Game 7. Players grow up dreaming of scoring goals that decide these types of moments, although some probably dread the theater of such a contest.

If you used history as your only guide, then you’d probably wager pretty heavily on the Philadelphia Flyers over the Buffalo Sabres. Not only is their current group familiar with fighting through adversity, there’s also their superior all-time record in Game 7 contests.

Flyers all-time record in Game 7 contests: 8-6, including a win against the Boston Bruins in 2010.

Sabres all-time record in Game 7 contests: 1-5, with their only win coming against the Ottawa Senators in 1997.

CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio sheds more light on the disparity in these mutual do-or-die games.

Among the Sabres in the lineup that will face the Flyers Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center, only seven have Game 7 experience from a previous NHL playoff series – Ryan Miller, Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier, Rob Neidermayer, Jordan Leopold, Steve Montador and Derek Roy, who will make his series debut after missing four months with a left quad tear.

Virtually the entire Flyers roster -- minus Kris Versteeg and Andrej Meszaros -- has been through this before, many of them, as recent as last spring’s Boston series as Flyers.

“It’s a great experience to go out there and know all is on the line and you are playing with the guys in the room and for each other,” Roy said. “And it’s going to be a moment that will last forever. We should cherish it.”

History favors the Flyers. Lifetime, the Sabres have never won a Game 7 on the road (0-4).


Buffalo’s most recent Game 7 involved a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals.

Now, this is not to say that the Sabres roster is devoid of big-game players. Their star goalie Ryan Miller shined brightly in the concentrated spotlight of the 2010 Olympics. He’s also been steady to brilliant in elimination games, although that Game 6 defeat moves his record in games in which one or both teams can advance to 7-6.

The Sabres also can point to the fact they have taken two of three of the games in Philadelphia so far, showing that they have their own kind of resiliency. This is a young team, with many players (including skyscraper defenseman Tyler Myers) who haven’t been in this spot before. That means that history probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to them.

There’s one other reason for the Sabres to be inspired: their top center Derek Roy will make his comeback for Game 7. Who knows how much of a difference he can make, but the team could be that much more dangerous with that point per game producer back in the lineup.

It all shapes up for an awfully interesting game. Can the Flyers overcome their goalie questions (more on that in a future post)? Can the Sabres overcome their franchise history of letdowns in Game 7? This series has been as close as you can ask for, but at the end of this game, only one team will have another game to look forward to.