There was no question of effort. After John Tortorella called out an embarrassing second period against the Islanders, the Flyers dominated in shots and mostly controlled play.
But Ivan Fedotov‘s first NHL start showed some of the continued adjustments that need to be made as he gets used to the NHL, and mistakes by the Flyers became magnified. It resulted in their sixth straight loss, falling to the Sabres, 4-2, on Friday night.
The Sabres got on the board first at 10:01 of the first. Tage Thompson was left alone and made the move around Fedotov for his 28th goal of the season to make it 1-0.
That was the only goal of the period, despite a 10-4 lead in shots for the Flyers.
The Flyers kept the pressure on in the second, peppering the Buffalo net with 14 shots. Finally, at 9:07, they managed the equalizer, as Noah Cates beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make it 1-1 with his fifth of the season.
The Sabres regained the lead with 5:09 left in the second. Rasmus Dahlin was given room to walk into the slot and fired a wrist shot past Fedotov for his 19th goal of the season to make it 2-1.
With 5.1 seconds remaining in the period, the Sabres struck again off a rush. Jack Quinn beat Fedotov high to the blocker side to make it 3-1 with his sixth goal of the season.
Through two periods, shots were 24-12.
The Flyers got the margin back to one with 10:41 to play as Owen Tippett scored his 28th goal of the season, setting a new career-high.
Buffalo got the two-goal lead back with 6:01 to play as Quinn put home his second goal of the game on his own rebound.
Luukkonen made 32 saves on 34 shots in the win. Fedotov made 15 saves on 19 shots in the loss.
Quinn, Thompson, Alex Tuch and Zach Benson each finished with two points for Buffalo. Tippett had a goal and an assist for the Flyers.
The Flyers get right back on the ice on Saturday night to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Flyers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sabres | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- BUF Tage Thompson (28) (JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch) 10:01
2nd Period
- PHI Noah Cates (5) (Owen Tippett, Cam York) 9:07
- BUF Rasmus Dahlin (19) (Thompson) 14:51
- BUF Jack Quinn (6) (Zach Benson, Owen Power) 19:54
3rd Period
- PHI Tippett (28) (Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton) 9:19
- BUF Quinn (7) (Benson, Dylan Cozens) 13:59
Game Statistics
| Flyers | Sabres | |
| Shots | 34 | 19 |
| Power Play | 0/2 | 0/0 |
| Hits | 43 | 35 |
| Faceoff % | 69% | 31% |
| Giveaways | 9 | 2 |
| Takeaways | 9 | 3 |
| Blocked Shots | 16 | 16 |
| Penalty Minutes | 2 | 6 |
