Flyers' five-game point streak snapped with 5-3 loss at Sabres

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 18, 2025

Published in Hockey

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Flyers have been having better days lately, but they came up short on Thursday night, falling, 5-3, to the Buffalo Sabres.

The loss snapped the Flyers’ five-game point streak and is their first loss in regulation on the road since a 3-0 stinker against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 24.

Things started well for the Flyers. They came out in dominating fashion, but for the 23rd time — in 33 games — they trailed 1-0. It is just their seventh loss (12-7-4) when trailing first.

Jack Quinn knocked down a Travis Konecny pass in the neutral zone, and the Sabres took the puck the other way. Zach Benson carried the puck down the left board before curling and feeding Mattias Samuelsson at the point. Samuelsson, the son of former Flyers defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, put the puck on net quickly, and Quinn redirected it past Sam Ersson.

But before the KeyBank Center’s announcer could finish announcing the goal, 58 seconds later, Noah Cates found the back of the net to tie it 1-1. Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin moved a dump-in by Cates up the boards, but Bobby Brink picked up the loose puck.

Brink carried the puck up the boards and maintained control under pressure before turning back down the boards and into the left circle. He dished a backhand pass to Cates, who snapped the one-timer past the glove of former Flyer goalie Alex Lyon.

According to Natural Stat Trick, by the end of the first period, the Flyers had a 12-4 lead in shots on goal, had 21 shot attempts to the Sabres’ five, and 88.45% of the expected-goals share.

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead with 8 minutes, 59 seconds to go in the second period. As Trevor Zegras carried the puck through the zone, Cam York cut through the center of the ice, turned and received a no-look pass from Zegras.

York held the puck and then sent the wrister past Lyon. The goal is the defenseman’s second of the season.

But in a period that saw an even number of shots, 10 apiece, the Sabres took a 3-2 lead.

Off a defensive-zone face-off, the Flyers got stuck in their own end, and 32 seconds later, the Sabres tied the game at 2. Travis Sanheim played the puck along the left boards, but right to Buffalo’s Dahlin. He dropped the puck between his legs to Tage Thompson, and the winger skated to the middle before beating Ersson.

Noah Ostlund gave the Sabres their second lead of the game less than three minutes later. With 30 seconds left in the middle frame, he sent a shot from the point past several bodies that appeared to screen Ersson.

In the third period, Josh Norris scored to give Buffalo a two-goal cushion. Norris was sitting wide-open in front when he received a cross-crease pass from Benson before waiting and whipping it past the Flyers’ goalie.

Konecny cut it to a one-goal game with 5:32 remaining off a pass from Emil Andrae. The Flyers had the puck in the offensive zone for 52 seconds when Andrae at the left point found Konecny curling above the right circle.

The goal was Konecny’s 10th of the season and fifth in December. He has 11 points in nine games.

Breakaways

The Flyers placed defenseman Egor Zamula on waivers on Thursday. … Defenseman Noah Juulsen and forward Nikita Grebenkin were the healthy scratches. … Buffalo’s Ryan McLeod scored an empty-netter.

Up next

The Flyers head downstate to face the New York Rangers on Saturday.