The Buffalo Sabres extended their season-high winning streak to four games with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson, Noah Ostlund, Josh Norris, and Ryan McLeod all scored for Buffalo. Zach Benson and Mattias Samuelsson each had two assists.
Alex Lyon stopped 24 of 27 shots to earn his seventh win of the season. Lyon has started Buffalo’s last three games, and seems to be taking over as the Sabres’ first choice at goaltender.
The loss snapped the Flyers’ five-game (2-0-3) points streak, and the team has now won just once in its last five games (1-1-3).
Noah Cates, Cam York, and Travis Konecny each scored for Philadelphia, and Bobby Brink added two assists. Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson stopped 23 of 27 shots.
The two teams exchanged goals within a 58-second span in the first period. Quinn’s re-direction opened the scoring at the 7:40 mark, but less than a minute later, Cates buried a quick shot for the equalizer.
A nice Philadelphia passing play was finished off by York’s goal 11:01 into the second period. The Sabres then equalized when Rasmus Dahlin dropped off a between-the-legs pass to Thompson at the 16:54 mark, and Thompson banked a shot off the post and into the net.
Thompson’s team-leading 17th goal of the season extended the star forward’s scoring streak to five consecutive games.
Just 30 seconds before the second intermission, Ostlund’s shot from the upper slot beat a screened Ersson. It was the fifth goal of Ostlund’s NHL rookie season, and his second in as many games.
Norris extended Buffalo’s lead with a power-play tally at 10:20 into third period. Norris’ goal ended up as the game-winner, as Konecny scored just over four minutes later to narrow the deficit.
The Flyers are 0-for-16 on power plays over their last seven games, including an 0-for-3 performance on Thursday. The special-teams struggles were highlighted when Philadelphia couldn’t score on a power play and with a pulled goalie late in the third period.
After the Sabres overcame the 6-on-4 disadvantage, McLeod sealed Buffalo’s victory with an empty-net goal.
