The Philadelphia Flyers had their four-game winning streak come to a pretty abrupt halt last night. They fell flat in a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs that was marred by bad goaltending, terrible turnovers, and mistakes on routine plays that ended up in their net as a result.
“We just self-destruct the s— out of ourselves. We just can’t overcome some of the things we give them for free,” said head coach John Tortorella after last night’s game. Tortorella made it a point that the Flyers simply aren’t good enough to skate by after making mistakes like they did in that game, and tonight’s contest will be no different against a Buffalo Sabres club that possesses plenty of talent.
The Sabres sit fourth in the Atlantic Division standings and are very much in the hunt for a playoff spot, something they haven’t seen since 2011. They’re led by All-Star Tage Thompson, who has turned plenty of heads this year and has shown that last year’s season and subsequent contract extension were no fluke; he is the real deal.
Thompson leads the Sabres in goals (31) and points (56) while Rasmus Dahlin leads the club in assists (32). Thompson also ranks fifth in the entire NHL in points and is third in goals and just two shy of league leader Connor McDavid.
After a night where they fell to the graces of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, the Flyers will have to pull up their bootstraps and buckle down against a team that contains the likes of Thompson, Dahlin, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch, and Dylan Cozens, among others.
As a testament to their offensive abilities, the Sabres lead the league in goals per game with an even 4, but they also allow 3.43 goals per game, bad enough for ninth-worst in the league and that should be the key for the Flyers to take advantage of. If they can pounce on scoring opportunities and pepper the goaltender early and often, they can give themselves a shot to win in what will almost certainly be a last-shot-wins type of game.
PHI Record: 15-18-7, 37 pts, 7th in Metropolitan
BUF Record: 20-15-2, 42 pts, 4th in Atlantic
Last Game PHI: 1/8/23, 6-2 L vs. Toronto
Last Game BUF: 1/7/23, 6-5 OTW vs. Minnesota
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (3-0-0, .905 SV%, 2.90 GAA, 0 SO)
BUF Goalie: Craig Anderson (7-5-1, .923 SV%, 2.61 GAA, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #74 Owen Tippett
#86 Joel Farabee – #49 Noah Cates – #11 Travis Konecny
#13 Kevin Hayes – #21 Scott Laughton – #57 Wade Allison
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #38 Patrick Brown – #17 Zack MacEwen
#9 Ivan Provorov – #45 Cam York
#6 Travis Sanheim – #61 Justin Braun
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#33 Samuel Ersson
#79 Carter Hart
BUF Projected Lineup
#53 Jeff Skinner – #72 Tage Thompson – #89 Alex Tuch
#77 J.J. Paterka – #24 Dylan Cozens – #22 Jack Quinn
#37 Casey Mittelstadt – #17 Tyson Jost – #71 Victor Olofsson
#28 Zemgus Girgensons – #19 Peyton Krebs – #21 Kyle Okposo
#23 Mattias Samuelsson – #26 Rasmus Dahlin
#25 Owen Power – #38 Kale Clague
#78 Jacob Bryson – #46 Ilya Lyubushkin
#41 Craig Anderson
#1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (neck), Sean Couturier (back), Ryan Ellis (hip), Tanner Lacyznski (lower-body)
Scratches: Tony DeAngelo, Kieffer Bellows
BUF Injuries: Henri Jokiharju (lower-body), Eric Comrie (lower-body)
Scratches: Rasmus Asplund, Vinnie Hinostroza, Casey Fitzgerald
News and Notes
– Tony DeAngelo was benched in last night’s loss to Toronto and could sit tonight for Justin Braun.
– Samuel Ersson is projected to start in goal tonight, his fifth start of the season. All of his appearances have come on the road so far.
– Travis Konecny is currently on an 8-game point streak and 6-game goal scoring streak, both the longest of his career.
– Buffalo will be wearing their black and red alternate jerseys tonight. The Sabres have a record of 4-0-0 in those jerseys and have scored six goals in every single one of those wins. Buckle up.
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
