5 takeaways | Sabres shut out by Elliott, Flyers

Playing without captain Jack Eichel, the Buffalo Sabres were unable to solve goaltender Brian Elliott for the second time this season in a 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
The loss dropped the Sabres to 2-5-1 since returning from a 15-day pause on Feb. 15.
"Guys are competing," forward Eric Staal said afterward. "For whatever reason, it seems like we're just pedaling really hard uphill. When you're struggling with confidence and you're struggling offensively, I feel like a lot of times with a lot of guys you're guilty of maybe doing too much and just not executing on the smaller details. Swimming hard, but just not all in the right direction.
"It kind of feels that way right now. It's frustrating, it's frustrating for everybody. But the only way you can get out of it is to get on the ice and we get a chance to do that tomorrow."

Here are five takeaways from the game, which opened up a back-to-back set against the Flyers at KeyBank Center.

1. Puck mismanagement costs Sabres

The Flyers outshot the Sabres, 39-23, pinning the Sabres in their own zone for long stretches of the game. Sean Couturier opened the scoring following a defensive-zone turnover by the Sabres with 5:38 remaining in the first period.
Philadelphia's next two goals, from Shayne Gostisbehere and Scott Laughton, both came on defensive lapses on the rush.
"A lot of it had to do with puck management," coach Ralph Krueger said. "We were close to exiting and/or players away from the puck were exiting too early and we knew they were going to come at us hard and try to take advantage of the few games they've had.
"I think they had four games in this stretch where we had eight and they were going to come at us. We expected that and it was frustrating for us to mismanage the puck that way. If we want to recover here tomorrow, it's going to be about that."

2. Hutton steps in for Ullmark

The Sabres announced prior to the game that goaltender Linus Ullmark would miss at least a month due to the lower-body injury he sustained against New Jersey on Thursday.
Carter Hutton made his first start since Feb. 16 in Ullmark's absence. He allowed three goals on 39 shots.
"It sucks, obviously," Hutton said regarding Ullmark's injury. "I think he's been our best player all year. He's been a big-time difference maker. It's frustrating. A guy I've been with for three years, you see him kind of come into his own and he's worked hard on and off the rink.
"It's obviously a tough time. Especially right now, him and I are both away from our families so we're here on our own. I think we do a lot of supporting each other. … But for Linus, the future's bright, for sure."

3. Ristolainen returns

Rasmus Ristolainen skated a team-high 22:18 in his first game since testing positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 2. The defenseman was his usual imposing self with a game-high six hits, including one that sent Flyers forward Michael Raffl to the ice late in the first period.

Ristolainen said he felt good early but lost his rhythm as his ice time dipped in the third.
"I thought he was our best D here tonight," Krueger said. "Amazing how he's come off of more than three weeks of a break. I don't know the time exactly, but it's more than that. It just shows the character and the fight that he has in him. He'll be able to take it to even a higher level tomorrow."
Jeff Skinner and Tobias Rieder also returned to the lineup. Skinner, who sat out the past three games as a healthy scratch, skated 14:03. Rieder returned from a two-game absence stemming from an upper-body injury and tallied four shot attempts in 14:13.

4. Power play cools off

The Sabres power play entered Saturday atop the league rankings thanks to a red-hot stretch over the past 12 games. The power play had scored in 11 of those contests, going 16-for-38 (42.1 percent).
It cooled with an 0-for-3 afternoon against a Flyers penalty kill that ranked 30th in the NHL. The Sabres generated one shot on goal over the two attempts.

5. The big picture

The Sabres are now eight points back from the fourth-place Flyers going into their rematch on Sunday.
"Hopefully we can get Jack back in the lineup tomorrow," Krueger said. "We might make a couple of changes where we can add some energy. We haven't made a final decision yet on the goalie. I think injecting some new energy is probably really almost necessary in this situation and we need to stay optimistic and positive about us being able to recover tomorrow. It's the only way we can get ourselves back into this quickly.
"But it is certainly one of the bigger challenges I've seen as a coach because the heart seems to be in the right place but the energy just isn't there to match that. We've got to make sure frustration doesn't come into our game and that fight comes out early in the game. We need some success offensively which could create the energy we will need to get the right result tomorrow."
Coverage on Sunday begins at 2:30 p.m. on MSG. Puck drop is set for 3.