Sharpen Up: April 17, 2022 | Back-to-back set wraps up in Philadelphia

The Buffalo Sabres used a strong second period on Saturday to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 at KeyBank Center.
They'll try to beat the Flyers again tonight, only this time it'll be on enemy soil. Faceoff from Wells Fargo Center is set for 5 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage on MSG starts at 4:30.
Here's what you need to know.

Last night's recap

From the Postgame Report:
Kyle Okposo limped to the podium with a smile on his face.
He greeted the media following the Buffalo Sabres' 4-3 comeback win over the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center on Saturday, but earlier in the game, he was stewing. The Sabres got off to a slow start and found themselves down 2-0 in the first 3:55 of the contest.
Later in the period, Okposo was hit in the leg by a slap shot fired by teammate Tage Thompson and he struggled back to the bench. With this team down a pair after 20 minutes, he returned to the ice for the second period and 3:17 into the frame, he scored his 20th goal of the season on a pass from Peyton Krebs on the power play.
"I was steaming inside and I was pretty pent up. And if I didn't take that shot, I might've lost my marbles a little bit after the first," Okposo, who was also celebrating his 34th birthday, said.
Buffalo battled back to outscore Philadelphia 4-1 in the second period and held on in the third - killing off three penalties in the final 12 minutes - to earn the victory.
Rasmus Dahlin recorded a goal and an assist while Thompson and Vinnie Hinostroza also scored. Craig Anderson stopped 18 shots for his 16th win of the season.

"Yeah, my message to them was your emotional energy cannot go toward that other team, your physical, competitive energy's fine, but you do not need emotional energy," coach Don Granato said. "And I thought they were really, really good. Obviously, really good in the second period.
"In the third, we had kills more than we would've like to kill and we used a lot of different guys there, and the battle level remained high. It was nice to see that."
Read the full story here.

Have you met Josh Allen?

The Buffalo Bills quarterback attended the game, received a standing ovation from the crowd when he was shown on the video board, and stopped by the locker room afterwards:

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes:
• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Flyers this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Philadelphia 4-3 in Buffalo on April 16.
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against the Flyers; 2-6-2 on the road.
• This is the 192nd game all-time between Buffalo and Philadelphia; Buffalo has a 74-91-26 series record.
• The Sabres are 27-55-15 on the road against the Flyers all-time.
• The Sabres have won each of their last four games against the Flyers, marking their first four-game winning streak against Philadelphia since the team won five straight from Oct. 10, 2001 to Oct. 22, 2002. • The Sabres have earned at least a point in each of their last six meetings with Philadelphia, giving Buffalo its first six-game point streak against the Flyers since Dec. 7, 1989 to March 24, 1991.
• Buffalo has never earned a point in seven straight games against the Flyers.

• Tage Thompson has 19 points (11+8) in his last 18 contests, recording five multi-point performances during that span.
• Thompson has five points (3+2) in his last five games against the Flyers.
• Victor Olofsson has 12 points (6+6) in his last 11 games and has tallied multi-point games in four of those 10 contests.
• The Sabres are 10-0-0 this season when Olofsson records a multi-point performance.

• Jeff Skinner has 15 points (8+7) in his last 15 games and has tallied at least a point in 12 of those 15 contests.
• He has registered two separate five-game point streaks since March 20 (March 20 at VAN to March 28 at CHI and April 1 vs. NSH to April 8 at FLA).
• Skinner has six points (3+3) in his last three games against Philadelphia, including four points (2+2) in two games against the Flyers this season.

• Henri Jokiharju has three assists and a plus-3 rating in his last three games.
• Kyle Okposo enters tonight's contest with a five-game point streak against the Flyers, tallying six points (1+5) during that span.
• Okposo has tallied an assist in each of his last two games at Philadelphia.
• Tonight's game wraps up Buffalo's third and final home-and-home set this season, which began last night with a 4-3 win in Buffalo.
• The Sabres have played in 171 previous home-and-home series in franchise history, going 95-51-25 (.629) in the home games and 59-82-30 (.433) in the road games in the previous series.
• The team is 75-67-29 (.523) all-time in the first game of the previous series and 79-66-26 (.538) in the second.
• Buffalo's points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (32), three points (26), two points (69), one point (18), zero points (26).
• Tonight's game wraps up Buffalo's 15th of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 4- 3 win in Buffalo last night.
• The Sabres are 5-8-2 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-7-4 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo's point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (4), two points (3), one point (2) and zero points (5).