Michkov scores twice again for Flyers in victory against Sabres

PHILADELPHIA -- Matvei Michkov had his second straight two-goal game for the Philadelphia Flyers, who recovered for a 7-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Ryan Poehling had two goals and an assist, Noah Cates had a goal and two assists, and Tyson Foerster had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (30-36-9), who won 6-4 against the Montreal Canadiens in Brad Shaw’s debut as coach Thursday after losing 11 of 12 (1-10-1). Samuel Ersson made 17 saves.

Philadelphia trails the New York Rangers by eight points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"When you're in the season like that, and a tough spot, any change is welcome, and unfortunately it's a coach [John Tortorella] and a well-respected guy," Cates said. "Just kind of reset after it, and to have the efforts that we've had has been nice."

Jack Quinn had two goals and an assist for the Sabres (30-36-6), who had won three in a row. JJ Peterka had a goal and an assist, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves.

Buffalo, which trails the Rangers by 11 points, visits the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

"It was like Christmas hockey; we handed gifts out for the first three goals," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "... We had lack of discipline and we had lack of attention to detail when it comes to managing the puck early. That really hurt us."

Michkov gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the first period when he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Travis Konecny.

Jakob Pelletier made it 2-0 just 29 seconds later at 5:56. It was the forward's first goal in 18 games with the Flyers after being acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames on Jan. 30.

"The last four or five games I thought we had chances," Pelletier said. "I remember the one against the [Canadiens] last game in the first [period], I think I have to score that. Felt good, to be honest."

Quinn cut it to 2-1 at 10:57, taking a flip pass from Peterka and scoring with a wrist shot from the slot.

Peterka tied it 2-2 at 1:41 of the second period, redirecting a feed from Ryan McLeod at the far post.

Quinn gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 8:13.

Michkov tied it 3-3 on a breakaway at 10:36. The 20-year-old forward leads NHL rookies with 24 goals, and has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak.

"He's an exceptional player with the puck, an exceptional player offensively," Shaw said. "I think what he has to learn is that the better he checks and the better he plays without the puck, the sooner he gets it back and then the more opportunistic he can be and the more he can show off the skill package that he has. There's so much room for growth there away from the puck [or] even with the puck. He's going to learn as he goes what works and what doesn't work in so many different scenarios. And he's well down that path already.

"That's a real exciting player to sort of picture where he may be three, four years from now."

Cates scored from the slot at 14:11 to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead.

Poehling made it 5-3 with a power-play goal at 6:39 of the third period, and Foerster gave Philadelphia a 6-3 lead at 10:13 after a feed from Bobby Brink.

Alex Tuch cut it to 6-4 with a short-handed goal at 15:05, but Ryan Poehling scored 29 seconds later at 15:34 on the power play for the 7-4 final.

NOTES: Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin did not play because of an illness. Ruff said Dahlin is doubtful to play Sunday. ... Tuch is tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the NHL lead with five short-handed goals. … Quinn’s three points are a season high; he has five points (three goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak. … Buffalo forward Tage Thompson was minus-3 and limited to two shots on goal in 17:33 of ice time. … Tippett's goal was his 20th of the season and first in 11 games; it was Cates’ 15th and first in 13. ... Flyers center Sean Couturier had a season-high five-game point streak end; he had eight points (four goals, four assists) during the run. ... Michkov's 24 goals are the most by a Flyers rookie since Matt Read scored 24 in 2011-12. … Philadelphia defensemen Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler were each plus-3. ... After the game, the Flyers announced they signed undrafted forward Karsen Dorwat to a two-year, entry-level contract. The 22-year-old had 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 35 games at Michigan State this season.