Sabres keep playoff hopes alive, extend Flyers' winless skid

Field Level Media|published: Fri 5th April, 21:51 2024

Apr 5, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26) skates with the puck during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center. credits: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Jack Quinn had two goals and Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 win over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

The Sabres (37-35-5, 79 points) have won two straight games, and are still alive in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference wild-card playoff berth.

Rasmus Dahlin scored Buffalo's other goal. Alex Tuch and Zach Benson each had two assists.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn his 26th win of the season.

The Flyers are 0-4-2 in their last six games. The winless streak has dropped Philadelphia (36-30-11, 83 points) out of third place in the Metropolitan Division and into the wild card race.

In his first NHL start and just his second NHL game, Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov stopped 15 of 19 Buffalo shots.

Owen Tippett had a goal and an assist and Noah Cates scored Philadelphia's other goal.

The Flyers outshot the Sabres by a 34-19 margin on Friday, yet Thompson opened the scoring midway through the first period. The forward displayed some canny stick-handling in tallying his ninth goal in his last 10 games.

Philadelphia kept pouring on the offense in the first half of the second period. Luukkonen played well against this steady pressure, but Cates finally equalized by burying a shot from the circle 9:07 into the second frame.

Buffalo head coach Don Granato called a timeout to settle his team following Cates' goal. The tactic seemed to work, as the Sabres rebounded to score twice before the second intermission.

Dahlin deposited a wrist shot from the slot at the 14:51 mark to restore Buffalo's lead. With just six seconds remaining in the second period, a Sabres passing play that started from behind their own net was finished by Quinn.

Tippett's point shot made it a one-goal game 9:19 into the third period, but Quinn responded for Buffalo by depositing his own rebound at the 13:59 mark.

It was Quinn's first multi-goal game of the season, as injuries have limited the forward to 22 games.

—Field Level Media

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