NHL Preview: Philadelphia Flyers (15-18-7) at Buffalo Sabres (20-15-2)

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME BROADCAST INFO.
Wed., Jan. 11 Washington Capitals Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic
Sat., Jan. 14 Washington Capitals Capital One Arena 7 p.m. NBCSP, 93.3 WMMR
Mon., Jan. 16 Boston Bruins TD Garden 1 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic

CURRENT INJURIES
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Cam Atkinson IR-upper body 9/25-present 40
Sean Couturier IR-back 9/19-present 40
Ryan Ellis LTIR-groin/hip/back 10/11-present 40
Tanner Laczynski IR-lower body 12/7-present 14
2022-23 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 225

FLYERS VS. SABRES: HEAD-TO-HEAD
FLYERS SABRES
97-68-27 ALL-TIME RECORD 75-91-26
58-23-17 HOME 47-36-11
39-45-10 ROAD 28-55-15
0-5-0 LAST 5 MEETINGS 5-0-0
5-5-0 LAST 10 MEETINGS 5-3-2
611 GOALS SCORED 561
21.8% POWER PLAY 23.1%
76.9% PENALTY KILL 78.2%
van Riemsdyk: 28 pts (19-9=28) in 47 GP
Hayes: 16 pts (5-11=16) in 25 GP
Konecny: 14 pts (5-9=14) in 20 GP
TEAM SCORING LEADERS Skinner: 34 pts (17-17=34) in 46 GP
Okposo: 31 pts (10-21=31) in 55 GP
Dahlin: 10 pts (1-9=10) in 16 GP
Hart: 3-2-0, 2.73 GAA, .906 SV%, 1 SO in 7 GP
Ersson: Has not faced BUF
TEAM GOALTENDERS Anderson: 14-9-3, 2..92 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO in 28 GP
Luukkonen: Has not faced PHI

TEAM NOTES
QUICK HITS

• The Flyers have earned points in nine of its last 15 games (7-6-2), including a season-high four-game win streak, Dec. 29-Jan. 5.
• Philadelphia has outscored its opponents, 33-27, in the last eight overall games and are 5-3-0 since Dec. 20. Philadelphia ranks T-5th in the NHL in goals and T-7th in wins.
• The Flyers have scored three-plus goals in 10 of their last 15 games, posting a 6-3-1 record when scoring three-plus goals since Dec. 5.
• Philadelphia scored a season-high six goals Thursday vs. ARI, the team’s first six-plus goal game since April 21, 2022 at MTL. Five of the six goals were netted during the second period to mark the 66th time in franchise history the Flyers have scored five-or-more goals in a single period, last, Dec. 3, 2019 vs. TOR (5 in the 3rd).
• Philadelphia has outscored its opponents 17-11 in the third period in the last 12 games. The Flyers’ 17 third period goals rank sixth in the NHL since Dec. 11.
• The Flyers have allowed the opposing team to score first in 28 of its 40 games this season. Philadelphia ranks T-1st in the NHL with 11 wins when trailing first in a game.
• Philadelphia set a season-high 41 shots Dec. 11 at ARI and have outshot their opponents in 10 of the last 18 games, posting a 5-4-1 record in those 10 contests.
• The Flyers recorded a franchise-best 59 hits Nov. 12 vs. OTT. The 59 hits are tied for the ninth-most in a regular season game in NHL history.
• Philadelphia leads the NHL with 1,191 hits and ranks third with 698 blocked shots.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

• Philadelphia is on a season-high three-game road trip, its longest road winning streak since winning three, Jan. 26-Feb. 7, 2021.
• Philadelphia is 7-8-6 on the road this season and is 4-3-2 in the last nine road games.
• The Flyers have scored three-plus goals in six of its last eight road games. Philadelphia is 5-3-3 on the road this season when scoring three-plus goals.

BACK-TO-BACKS

• Sunday’s and Monday’s games mark the Flyers’ seventh back-to-back set of 15 this season.
• The set marks the second of four home-to-road back-to-backs this season:

1. Nov. 25 vs. PIT (4-1 L); Nov. 26 at NYI (5-2 L)
2. Jan. 8 vs. TOR (6-2 L); Jan. 9 at BUF
3. Feb. 24 vs. MTL; Feb. 25 at NJ
4. April 1 vs. BUF; April 2 at PIT

• The Flyers are 2-4-1 in the first game of a back-to-back this season and 0-6-0 in the second.

BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:

LAST GAME
Saturday, Jan. 7
Minnesota 5 at Buffalo 6 (OT)
Goals: Olofsson (2), Dahlin (2), Thompson, Cozens
Goalie: Luukkonen (39 saves/44 shots)
PP: 2/3; PK: 2/4; Shots: Minnesota 44 – Buffalo 37

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 98)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Eric Comrie (Lower body, Nov. 19; IR) – 20 games
Henri Jokiharju (Lower body, Dec. 10; IR) – 10 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST SEVEN DAYS
1/7: Assigned F Jiri Kulich and F Isak Rosen to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Jan. 10: Seattle at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 12: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 14: Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 16: Florida at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 17: Buffalo at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
FLYERS AT SABRES
• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Flyers this season.

• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Philadelphia 5-3 in Philadelphia on April 17, 2022.

• Next meeting: Friday, March 17 in Philadelphia.

• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against the Flyers; 5-4-1 at home.

• This is the 193rd game all-time between Buffalo and Philadelphia; Buffalo has a 75-91-26 series record.

• The Sabres are 47-36-11 at home against the Flyers all-time.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Entering play on Sunday, Buffalo led all NHL teams in goals scored (148) in 2022-23, despite having played the fewest amount of games (37).

• A win in tonight’s game would give Buffalo a six-game winning streak against Philadelphia, the longest winning streak against the Flyers in franchise history.

• The Sabres also won five consecutive games against the Flyers from Nov. 10, 1982 to Feb. 21, 1984, from Dec. 17, 1989 to March 24, 1991 and from Oct. 10, 2001 to Oct. 22, 2002.

• Buffalo has scored at least four goals in each of its last five games against Philadelphia.

• Alex Tuch has notched 32 points (11+21) in his last 22 games, including eight points (3+5) in his last four games.

• Tuch owns four points (1+3) in his last two games and a point in tonight’s game would give him a three-game point streak.

• Tage Thompson has recorded 30 goals in his last 30 games, including 53 points (30+23) in that span.

• A goal in tonight’s game would give Thompson a three-game goal streak.

• Dylan Cozens has tallied 29 points (9+20) in his last 24 games and owns six points (2+4) in his last five games.

• Cozens is one goal, two assists and two points away from surpassing his previous single-season career highs in those categories, all of which he set in 79 games in 2021-22.

• A point in tonight’s game would give Cozens a three-game point streak.

• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded 27 points (5+22) in his last 22 games, including six points (2+4) in his last two games.

• Dahlin is one goal away from matching his previous career high of 13, which he set in 80 games in 2021-22.

• In his last 16 games, Jeff Skinner has recorded 25 points (12+13).

• Casey Mittelstadt owns four points (0+4) in his last two games and a point in tonight’s game would give him a point streak of three or more games for the second time this season (Oct. 18 to 22).

• Jacob Bryson needs three points to surpass his previous career high for points in a single season (10 in 2021-22).

• With a point in tonight’s game, Owen Power would earn the first three-game point streak of his career.

• Tyson Jost needs one point in tonight’s game to earn his second three-game point streak of 2022-23 (Dec. 13 to 17)

BACK-TO-BACK
Monday’s contest opens Buffalo’s seventh of 14 sets of back-to-back games this season, which will conclude on Tuesday in Buffalo. The Sabres are 3-2-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-5-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (2), one point (1) and zero points (2).