The Philadelphia Flyers suddenly have some momentum heading into Wednesday’s road matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.
Philadelphia lost its first nine games (0-6-3) before posting a 3-1 home win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The Flyers appeared unlikely to turn that victory into a winning streak as they were severely short-handed Monday against the talented Colorado Avalanche, but Matvei Michkov’s two goals fueled the home team to a 3-2 win.
“We knew we were in a hole (this season),” said Flyers center Trevor Zegras, who assisted on all three goals against Colorado. “Nobody was going to feel sorry for us. We had to dig our way out. I like what we’re doing so far. There’s a lot of hockey left and we know that. You’ve just got to keep building your game every day.”
The Flyers displayed a bit of resiliency on Monday as they won without injured regulars Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York. Joseph Woll, who made 24 saves for his first victory with Philadelphia, provided the backbone of the team’s defensive effort against Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon and company.
“Next-man-up mentality,” said forward Noel Acciari, whose first goal as a Flyer turned out to be the game-winner. “The season’s not going to wait for us to get healthy, so we’ve got to do it ourselves. I thought the guys that jumped in were great for us. It was a big win as a team.”
Michkov enters Wednesday’s matchup with a three-game goal streak. He has four tallies during that stretch and six goals in 11 games this season.
“The guy’s out of his mind,” Zegras said.
Buffalo is coming off a road trip in which all three games went to extra time. Two of those contests came in Montreal, including Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Canadiens.
The Sabres trailed the Canadiens 3-1 midway through the contest before rallying to force overtime. The extra session didn’t last long, however, as Montreal forward Cole Caufield beat goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 54 seconds in.
Still, the players appreciated the comeback that earned a point on the road.
“Just a lot of compete and the belief we have in here that we can come back in games,” said Sabres forward Jack Quinn, who started the rally with a shorthanded goal in the second period.
Josh Norris and Tage Thompson netted the other tallies for Buffalo, which is 2-0-2 in its last four games. Luukkonen finished with 30 saves.
“We left quite a few plays out there,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “We didn’t execute.”
On a more positive note, Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin said Monday following his first practice since getting hurt Oct. 12 against Florida that he expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday. He missed the last three games with an upper-body injury.
“I’m ready,” said Dahlin, a Norris Trophy finalist a season ago. “I think I’ll be ready. We’ll see here (Tuesday) and go from there.”
Dahlin has two goals and two assists in six games this season. He scored 19 goals last season — one shy of his career high — and finished with a career-best 74 points.
The Sabres won two of the three matchups against the Flyers last season.