Philadelphia, Pa. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - After a disastrous start for the Buffalo Sabres in Philadelphia, things didn't get much better as the game progressed in a 5-2 loss to the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Buffalo was missing Tage Thompson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the second-straight game due to injury, while winger Jordan Greenway picked up an injury in practice on Friday, keeping him out of Saturday's tilt with the Flyers.
The Sabres got themselves into penalty trouble within the first 10 minutes of the game when Connor Clifton went off for cross-checking. Buffalo managed to survived the man-advantage opportunity for the Flyers, keeping things scoreless.
Unfortunately, their second infraction did not lead to such luck when Zach Benson took a slashing call against former Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. This penalty lead to the Flyers' first goal of the game from Tyson Foerster, who was able to poke a shot past Sabres netminder Devon Levi for a 1-0 lead.
Barely two minutes later, Travis Sanheim doubled the Flyers' lead to 2-0 off a quick snap shot from the point that found its way through.
The Sabres needed a spark coming out of the locker room heading into the second period. The Flyers were the ones who ended up receiving it instead when defenseman Egor Zamula fired a floater that found its way through traffic and in the net behind Levi.
The two teams traded power plays throughout the period, with nothing going for the Sabres all game. Dylan Cozens found himself on a breakaway, but he couldn't convert with Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov shutting the door.
It wouldn't be long after this where the Flyers extended their lead to 4-0.
Sabres defenseman Owen Power took a shot bearing down the slot that the Flyers were able to pounce on, and get out to a streaking rookie Flyers forward Matvei Michkov. Michkov had open space in front of him, along with help to his side in forward Travis Konecny, who fired a one-timer past Levi.
The Sabres finally struck in the third period on the power play, as Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin fired a booming one-timer that deflected off a Flyers' defender in front of the net past Fedotov.
Buffalo got another one late from Ryan McLeod with the goaltender pulled, but Konecny found the back of the net again to put things totally out of reach at 5-2.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
PHI: 13:57 (PP) - Tyson Foerster (3) (Anthony Richard, Joel Farabee); 16:01 - Travis Sanheim (5) (Egor Zamula, Travis Konecny)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
PHI: 2:08 - Egor Zamula (1) (Anthony Richard, Matvei Michkov); 17:07 - Travis Konecny (10) (Matvei Michkov, Travis Sanheim)
Third Period:
BUF: 10:06 - Rasmus Dahlin (5) PPG (Alex Tuch, Jason Zucker); 18:55 - Ryan McLeod (6) (JJ Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin)
PHI: 19:42 - Travis Konecny (11) ENG (Sean Coutourier)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Travis Sanheim - PHI
2.) Ivan Fedotov - PHI
3.) Travis Konecny - PHI
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What's next:
The Sabres will come home for a few days before heading out West to begin their California three-game swing, starting Wednesday against the Kings in Los Angeles. Pregame will commence at 9:30 p.m. EST with opening faceoff set for 10:30 p.m. EST at Crypto.com Arena.