Flyers score 3 goals in under 1 minute, cruise past Sabres

PHILADELPHIA -- Bobby Brink, Travis Konecny and Noah Cates each had a goal and an assist for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia (15-8-3), and Travis Sanheim and Matvei Michkov each had two assists. Samuel Ersson made 27 saves for the Flyers, who have won six of their past eight games.

The Flyers were happy with how they responded from a 5-1 defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, which included losing forward and leading goal scorer Tyson Foerster for 2-3 months because of an upper-body injury.

"Felt like we didn't play our best game against Pittsburgh," Cates said. "And to have a game like tonight, in the first we're all over them. Just playing the way we can play is big and get some confidence for us."

Jason Zucker and Bowen Byram scored for Buffalo (11-12-4), which was playing the first of a six-game road trip. Colten Ellis made 30 saves.

"We started the game with poor puck play," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It costs us on the third goal. Our puck play cost us on probably three of the goals."

The Sabres took a 1-0 lead on Zucker's power-play goal at 4:08 of the first period, but the Flyers took control with three goals in 59 seconds later in the first.

Konecny tied the game 1-1 at 8:26 with a power-play goal from above the left face-off circle that went through a screen by Tippett.

The Sabres challenged for goaltender interference, but after a replay review the goal counted. Buffalo was penalized for the unsuccessful challenge, and on the ensuing power play Zegras' pass attempt from the right side went off the skate of Sabres forward Ryan McLeod and past Ellis to put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 at 9:04.

Brink made it 3-1 at 9:25 when he scored from the side of the net on the rebound of a Cates shot.

"I think parts of our game were really good but we just dug ourselves a hole in that first five minutes after we scored and couldn't get much traction after that," Byram said.

Cates put the Flyers ahead 4-1 at 1:45 of the second period when he got to the front of the net and redirected Brink's centering pass.

It was the first points in five games for Cates and Brink, who began the season as linemates along with Foerster, but were separated after Foerster sustained a lower-body injury Nov. 1.

"Yeah, that was awesome," Cates said of being back with Brink. "He just makes so many good plays. He's always buzzing; winning his wall battles is the biggest thing. So just a ton of trust in him in every zone, honestly, and great that we know we found our chemistry again and kind of helped each other out."

Byram scored from the right face-off dot to make it 4-2 at 11:48, but Tippett made it 5-2 at 12:43 when he batted in his own rebound.

That four of the Flyers' five goals came on plays at or around the net is what coach Rick Tocchet liked.

"It's getting better," he said. "It's got to be habitual, you have to do it all the time. But that's something we've really preached, get inside. The piston offense, we call it. Once somebody pistons out, we got to get people back in. And I think we're getting better at it and we're delivering pucks on it. We're getting more shots from the middle, which we've talked about, instead of passing to the flanks all the time. I think it's important that we deliver those pucks from the middle of the ice."

The Sabres had opportunities to get back into the game but went 1-for-6 on the power play, including two opportunities in the third period that resulted in one shot on goal.

"Obviously tough night for our power play," Sabres forward Tage Thompson said. "We've got to be better there. Special teams in particular could have changed the game for us drastically."

NOTES: Flyers defenseman Cam York left the game with 3:10 to play in the second period because of an upper-body injury. ... Zach Benson scored for the Sabres with 7:09 remaining in the third period, but the goal was overturned after the Flyers challenged for offside. ... The Flyers have allowed a power-play goal in four straight games. ... Konecny's goal was his 204th, passing Wayne Simmonds for 15th all-time for the Flyers. ... Zegras has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. ... The Flyers also scored three goals in 26 seconds against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 22. It's the first time they've had multiple instances of scoring at least three times in less than 60 seconds; they also did it twice in the 1983-84 season. ... Sabres forward Alex Tuch had an assist on Byram's goal to give him seven points (two goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak against the Flyers. ... It's the first time all season the Sabres have allowed multiple power-play goals during a game.