PHILADELPHIA — Valtteri Filppula scored the winner with 2:30 left in the second period and Travis Sanheim netted his first career goal to help the Philadelphia Flyers win their fifth straight game, 2-1 over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Brian Elliott made 19 saves for the Flyers, whose winning streak comes on the heels of a 10-game losing streak. The winning stretch began with a three-game Canadian trip that started with Coach Dave Hakstol changing the team’s formation to a more defensive-minded 1-2-2 alignment.

Philadelphia has outscored foes 19-8 since.

Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Sabres (8-18-6), who are in the cellar of the Eastern Conference. Buffalo was looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since Oct. 21-24.

Filppula put the Flyers ahead 2-1 after Jakub Voracek set up the play with his eighth assist in the last five games, passing to a cutting Filppula, who shot high over goalie Robin Lehner’s right arm.

BLUE JACKETS 6, ISLANDERS 4: Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots as host Columbus held off a rally by New York.

Advertisement

Markus Nutivaara, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who snuffed out a New York comeback attempt in the second and third periods that included a hat trick by wing Josh Bailey.

Columbus (20-11-1) has won 11 of its last 15 and is in a knot of teams battling for supremacy in the tough Metropolitan Division.

CANADIENS 2, DEVILS 1: Tomas Plekanec scored 1:52 into overtime and Montreal won at home to stop a three-game losing streak.

Andrew Shaw scored for the Canadiens in the first period and Carey Price made 31 saves in his ninth straight start.

WILD 2, MAPLE LEAFS 0: Alex Stalock stopped 28 shots to complete his first shutout in three seasons, steering host Minnesota past Toronto.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.