The Flyers went into Buffalo on a point streak and looked to be on their way to another victory. An almost perfect first period turned into a nightmare of a second half that saw the Flyers drop this game by a final score of 5-3.
The Basics
First period: 7:40 – Jack Quinn (Mattias Samuelsson, Zach Benson), 8:38 – Noah Cates (Bobby Brink)
Second period: 11:01 – Cam York (Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink), 16:54 – Tage Thompson (Rasmus Dahlin), 19:30 – Noah Ostlund (Owen Power, Alex Tuch)
Third period: 10:20 – Josh Norris (Zach Benson) (PPG), 14:28 – Travis Konecny (Emil Andrae, Jamie Drysdale) 19:52 – Ryan McLeod (Mattias Samuelsson) (EN)
SOG: 27 (PHI) – 28 (BUF)
Strong start
While the Sabres may have opened the scoring in this one, it’d be unfair to call the Flyers’ start a slow one. It’s true that for the 23rd time — which according the broadcast leads the league — the Flyers allowed the first goal of the game, however, they came up with a quick answer and completely took over the period. Just 58 seconds after Jack Quinn gave Buffalo the early lead on a deflection, Noah Cates tied the game at one off of a fantastic play made by Brink.
Snipe from the slot. 🎯#PHIvsBUF | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/pj0XFxg58V
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 19, 2025
It’s great to see the Cates-Brink connection get on the board, as their shot metrics have taken a dip lately while missing their regular linemate Tyson Foerster. Brink’s work on this goal is legitimately impressive, winning a board battle against the 6’6″ Tage Thompson.
The Flyers dominated the first period, out-attempting the Sabres 28-6 (23-5 at 5-on-5) and they owned over 85 percent of the expected goals generated in the period. The Flyers have become known for slow starts, but tonight was not another example of that trend.
York goal shows off Flyers’ creativity
Rick Tocchet teams aren’t exactly known for offensive creativity, and the 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers are no different — at least to this point. However, Cam York’s goal showed a glimpse of what this team’s skilled players are capable of doing.
Zegras moves up the right boards and finds Brink, who overtakes Zegras’ ice. Meanwhile York has rotated down into an almost center-role, and after the puck gets sent back to Zegras at the point, also begins to move towards the right boards. This movement confusion creates the hole in the Sabres’ defense that allows York to put the Flyers up by one.
The bestie connection. 4️⃣6️⃣➡️8️⃣#PHIvsBUF | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/5M0ht1auIl
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 19, 2025
Now, this can be looked at as more of a defensive breakdown from Buffalo more than anything else, and that the forwards, Tyson Kozak in particular, just get lost here. It is the Sabres, so that’s a completely understandable stance. However, from the Flyers’ perspective, more movement and rotation like this would be more than welcome to see. Most of their defenseman have the skill to play more of a rover-like role on the backend — York certainly does — and while Buffalo’s team defense is suspect, it’s movement like this that can open teams up. If they can unlock this more, maybe they can get the offense cooking a bit more than it has through the first two months of the season.
Unfortunately, from that point on, there were few if any positives to take away for the Flyers.
Second period struggles appear
Another trend this season has been second period struggles, and unlike slow starts, this one would ring true in this game. York may have scored first in the middle frame, but the Sabres had begun to shift the momentum well before that goal was scored.
What at first looked like a major mistake from Sanheim — who still shares some of the blame on this goal — was actually more on Couturier for leaving the zone early. Dahlin steps into the zone and blocks the pass up the boards, leading to a quick attack and the eventual goal.
The Right Way™#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/LljLBj61Ve
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 19, 2025
Sanheim looks up the ice to evaluate where the forwards are, and based on his view (and it’s probably fair to assume, the system) he expects someone to be on the right boards to break the puck out. Instead, Couturier uncharacteristically flies the zone, and Dahlin jumps in front of the puck to keep it in the Flyers’ zone. Sanheim tries to get back to disrupt, but a nice behind the back pass from Dahlin and and a quick deke from Thompson ends with the puck in the net.
In the final minute of the second period, the Sabres would take the lead thanks to a Noah Ostlund shot from far out that somehow found its way into the back of the net. It’s not the easiest save in the world with the traffic in front, but it was a shot that Ersson really needs to stop. It was a real backbreaker, coming right as the Flyers were about to escape a poor period with a tie.
In the middle frame, the Sabres took it to the Flyers, completely out playing them by any metric. After such an impressive first period, this was quite the letdown, and things only got worse for the Flyers in the third. Midway through the third, the Flyers’ penalty kill was caught with all four skaters on on side of the ice, leading to Josh Norris going one-on-one against Ersson, and increasing the Sabres’ lead to two.
Konecny strikes again, Andrae pops
After scoring against Montreal, Konecny made it goals in back to back games as the Flyers looked to mount another comeback. The Konecny line with Zegras and Christian Dvorak has been the Flyers’ best line at creating offense, and while they may struggle defensively at times, they’re doing more good than bad. A strong shift in the offensive zone resulted in Konecny’s tenth of the season, giving the Flyers hope.
TK’s got us right back in it.#PHIvsBUF | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/aN5P2ozEp5
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 19, 2025
Andrae makes a nice play here, and instead of sending the puck along the boards, finds Konecny across the ice. Andrae had a lowkey good game, which he really needed after the Flyers recently split he and Drysdale up — at least temporarily. The two were arguably the team’s best defensive pair tonight at both ends of the ice, and Andrae even led the Flyers’ in 5-on-5 ice time.
With the Flyers getting Rasmus Ristolainen back from injury, there is a bit of a logjam on defense right now. They just waived Egor Zamula, sent Ty Murchison back to the Phantoms who they liked, and Noah Juulsen is still going to get into games. Andrae is someone who is going to be watched closely, after not making the team out of camp and still being waivers exempt. For him to stay in the lineup, it’s important for him to continue to play well even when the team on the whole appears to be floundering, and that was the case tonight.
Data referenced via Natural Stat Trick
