The Buffalo Sabres notched a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center, powered by a pair of power-play goals from Rasmus Dahlin.
The victory moved Buffalo (25-16-4, 54 points) back into the first wild card position in the Eastern Conference, breaking a tie with Philadelphia. The Sabres now sit five points behind Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand.
Dahlin opened the scoring three minutes into the first period after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kept the game scoreless with a highlight-reel glove save on Nikita Grebenkin earlier in the frame. Dahlin added his second power-play goal later in the contest to seal the outcome.
Mattias Samuelsson, Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod also found the back of the net for Buffalo. Tage Thompson and Josh Doan each recorded two assists, contributing to a balanced offensive effort. Luukkonen finished with 20 saves as the Sabres limited Philadelphia’s chances at even strength.
Buffalo generated just 14 official shots on goal but totaled 39 shot attempts, hitting the post or crossbar multiple times in the opening period. Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar allowed two goals on five shots before leaving the game due to injury, and Samuel Ersson stopped six of eight shots in relief.
The Sabres were without forward Josh Norris for the third period after he exited late in the second with an upper-body injury.
The Sabres have a quick turnaround, continuing their homestand Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Montreal Canadiens.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].