The Buffalo Sabres have been on a roll of late and will look to keep it going when they kick off a three-game road trip with a visit to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
After losing six straight (0-5-1) from Feb. 27 to March 8, the Sabres (30-35-6, 66 points) have flipped the switch with a 6-3-0 run that began March 10. It’s a stretch that includes wins against the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators — all playoff-bound entering the Friday slate of games.
The Sabres enter the contest against the Flyers on a three-game winning streak after dispatching the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-3 on Thursday, chasing starting goalie Tristan Jarry after the fourth goal.
Outside of the victory against Pittsburgh, the others have been tight games. And when Buffalo has gotten out to a lead, it has held on to secure the win, unlike earlier this season.
“I think a little bit of maturity,” forward Tage Thompson said. “I think that’s kind of something that’s been getting us in trouble all year, regardless of chasing the goalies. But any time we got a lead this year, I think we just get a little too high on ourselves and start to get a little too casual and start floating pucks through the middle and try to get cute with it. …
“I think there’s a new maturity to our game where everyone’s committing to when we do have a lead, everyone’s putting pucks in places there’s no risk coming back the other way, making them break out through all five of us.”
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, who is set to play his 500th NHL game Saturday, is enjoying another stellar season. Entering Friday, his 57 points (13 goals, 44 assists) were tied for fourth-most by a defenseman in the NHL this season.
“When you think of a guy that’s played 500 games at 24 years old, that’s hard to really wrap your arms around, really, when defense is the hardest position to play in this league as a young player,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
The Flyers, meanwhile, will look to win consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 22-25. Philadelphia (29-36-9, 67 points) snapped a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) on Thursday with a 6-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens in their first game under interim coach Brad Shaw after John Tortorella was fired that morning.
“It’s a tough day when you go through something like this, but on the other side of it, pretty cool to see [Shaw] be able to come in and get a win like that,” forward Travis Konecny said. “It’s a mix of emotions. We just got to keep moving forward. It’s part of the business.”
It’s been a miserable month of March for the Flyers, who had one win in 12 games (1-10-1) from March 4-25 before Thursday, getting outscored 52-22 during that stretch.
Defenseman Cam York is expected to have regular ice time again after dressing but not playing against Montreal because of a disciplinary issue. York also only played only 3:50 in Philadelphia’s previous game against Toronto.
“I will say this: I take full responsibility for my actions,” York said. “It’s been addressed here in the locker room, and it’s something that I’m going to put behind me and move on from. We’ve got eight games left here, and that’s my focus right now.”
–Field Level Media
