Flyers defeat Sabres for fifth straight win

PHILADELPHIA -- Travis Sanheim didn't think it would take so long to score his first NHL goal.
The rookie had three goals in six preseason games to lead NHL defensemen, but it took until Thursday, his 28th regular-season game, to score his first goal in the League, helping the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Center.

Valterri Filppula scored the go-ahead goal, and Brian Elliott made 19 saves for the Flyers (13-11-17), who won their fifth straight game, their longest streak since winning 10 in a row Nov. 27-Dec. 14, 2016.
Ryan O'Reilly scored for the Sabres (8-18-6), and Robin Lehner made 25 saves. It was Buffalo's first loss in regulation in five games (2-1-2).
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Flyers highlights]
Sanheim's goal at 4:02 of the first period tied the game 1-1. Lehner went behind the net to play the puck, but his pass went off Flyers forward Dale Weise and rolled to Jordan Weal in the left corner. Weise got it back from Weal below the goal line and passed to Sanheim in the left face-off circle for a one-timer past Lehner.
"I saw their winger was cheating a bit toward the boards, and I jumped down low," Sanheim said. "Made sure I placed it where I wanted to."
Weise retrieved the puck from the net for Sanheim.
"He's been pressing for a little while," Weise said. "So happy to see him get it, see the smile on this face. That's going to do wonders for his game."

Filppula put the Flyers ahead 2-1 at 17:27 of the second period. After defenseman Robert Hagg got his stick on a Sabres clearing attempt, Michael Raffl was first to the loose puck and passed it to Jakub Voracek at the bottom of the right face-off circle. Voracek faked a shot and then sent it to a cutting Filppula, who one-timed it over Lehner's right shoulder.
The assist was Voracek's NHL-leading 31st of the season.
O'Reilly gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 1:29 into the game. Elliott went behind the net to play a dump-in but shot it into Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, who passed it in front to O'Reilly for a shot into an open net.
Buffalo nearly took a 2-0 lead when another Elliott miscue left Sam Reinhart with an open net, but Philadelphia forward Nolan Patrick blocked the shot on the goal line at 3:43.

The Flyers took control in the second period, outshooting the Sabres 14-6.
"We didn't execute in the neutral zone, we didn't get pucks behind them like we did when we had the chance like in the first," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "That was when the momentum shifted there. When we did do that, we had great [offensive] zone time, we created a lot, we shot the puck, and even though they weren't getting to the net, we had a lot of attempts. We got away from that in the second, and that was the difference."

Goal of the game

Filppula's goal at 17:27 of the second period.

Save of the game

Elliott stopping Sabres forward Evander Kane at 4:47 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Patrick's block of a Reinhart shot on the goal line at 3:43 of the first period.

They said it

"Wasn't a matter of us not getting the chances; we had great looks, we had open nets, we didn't finish. That's part of the execution. It's unfortunate because we had built something in the past four games. I thought we could have taken another step tonight against a good hockey team, but we didn't execute." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"I saw that was the option [Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues] was looking for. [Sabres forward Evander Kane] was backdoor, and we didn't really have anybody back there. I just tried to push across, get big, and it hit my stick and pad and whatever else was down there." -- Flyers goalie Brian Elliott on his lunging save against Kane at 4:47 of the third period

Need to know

Philadelphia lost 10 straight games (0-5-5) prior to their winning streak. They are the fifth team in NHL history to win at least five consecutive games after going 10 or more without a win, first since the San Jose Sharks lost 10 in a row (0-7-3) from Nov. 5-30, 2005, before winning six straight from Dec. 2-16, 2005. … O'Reilly's goal was Buffalo's 15th in the first period, the fewest in the League. … The Sabres started the third period with 1:47 of power play time but failed to get a shot. … The Flyers are 3-4-7 in one-goal games. The three wins are tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the fewest in the NHL. … Raffl played in his 300th NHL game and has three goals and two assists during a five-game point streak.

What's next

Sabres: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)