Dahlin’s ‘good feeling’ sparks Sabres' power play, helps beat Flyers

Though streaky this season, the Buffalo Sabres’ power play has the talent – especially the quarterback up top – to get hot at any moment.

Rasmus Dahlin led that charge Wednesday at KeyBank Center, scoring two power-play goals in a 5-2 Sabres win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I had a good feeling going into the game. I felt mentally good, and I was happy today,” said the defenseman, who snapped a nine-game goal drought. “… It’s been a crazy year, but good day. Sometimes you get your bounces.”

• From November: Dahlin returns from personal leave with fiancee Carolina

His first goal put Buffalo up 1-0 midway through the opening period. The captain spun off the wall to catch longtime Selke Trophy candidate (and one-time winner) Sean Couturier out of position, then skated into the open ice and snapped one past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar.

On the next power-play tally, Dahlin stepped into the high slot and beat backup goalie Samuel Ersson – Vladar had exited with injury after the first period – for his second of the game.

“They were really heavy on the flanks today, and they just let me walk down around the hashmarks area, so I took it and I scored,” Dahlin detailed.

The Flyers grew visibly frustrated with the bodies and sticks around their goalies as the game wore on. Both Dahlin goals featured Jason Zucker at the net front, and Josh Doan was also there on the second one. That and a shot-first mentality helped Buffalo break out of a 1-for-21 stretch on the man advantage.

It was the Sabres’ first game with multiple power-play goals since Doan scored two on Dec. 9 in Edmonton.

“We had a good meeting before the game tonight about getting back to what was working a couple games back, where we’re recovering pucks better and helping out on faceoffs better,” Doan said. “… You see a lot of teams playing now, and they’re forcing things in on net and creating chaos on the power play, and that’s something that we weren’t doing a lot of recently. So, it’s good to get back to that.”

Dahlin is up to 32 points (6+26) despite his recent scoring slump, and his off-ice situation has been well documented, but few guys hold themselves to higher standards. Impactful as he’s been, he still feels he’s “got a few more levels,” to his game – a scary thought for opposing teams.

“That young man has been through a lot,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “There’s a guy that cares. He’s not happy with his game. What some would assess would be a good game, he says that’s not his standard. I think that’s a great place to be.”

As for the team’s place? Wednesday’s win broke a tie with Philadelphia and lifted the Sabres (54 points) into the first wild card spot. Crucially, since the 10-game winning streak ended, Buffalo has prevented both losses from turning into a losing streak; this time, it responded to Monday's defeat against the Florida Panthers.

“I think that’s our biggest improvement; we know that good teams don’t lose two in a row,” Dahlin said.

Here’s more from the win.

Norris exits

Forward Josh Norris exited with an upper-body injury after assisting on Dahlin’s second goal. He missed the last 27:16 of the game.

Ruff, who attributed the injury to a cross check to the ribs, had no further updates postgame; Norris will be evaluated Thursday morning.

Luukkonen’s glove robbery

Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves for his third straight win. He’s 6-1-0 since Dec. 21, ranking second leaguewide in wins and fourth in save percentage (.928) among goalies with five or more games during that span.

His best save came on Philadelphia’s third shot, early in the first period with the game scoreless. A Zucker turnover set up a prime scoring chance for the visitors, but Luukkonen extended his glove to snag Nikita Grebenkin’s one-timer in close.

“I think I owe him dinner after that one,” Zucker said.

“Talk about a save that gets everybody off the bench,” added Ruff. “I think (it) got the crowd into it, got our guys going a little bit. We could’ve been behind the 8-ball right away.”

Familiar contributors

Some recurring themes combined for Buffalo’s second goal in the first period. Doan backchecked his way to a steal in the neutral zone, sparking a rush the other way. Forward Noah Ostlund then passed across to Mattias Samuelsson, who buried his eighth goal of the season.

Doan finished with two assists, while Samuelsson was plus-two with the goal, 5:09 of shorthanded ice time and a pair of crunching hits. Those guys continue to lead the way in the Sabres’ midseason turnaround.

And up two goals in the final minute, defending a 6-on-4 Flyers power play, Ryan McLeod iced the game with his fourth shorthanded goal – tied with Joel Armia for the NHL lead.

Postgame audio

Up next

The Sabres are right back at it Thursday for 2005-06 Reunion Night and a key matchup with the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 6:30.

Get your tickets today.