How did the Buffalo Sabres fare against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2022-23? It was a definite three-game roller coaster of a series.
How did the Buffalo Sabres fare against the Philadelphia Flyers? Spoiler alert, not so good. In the three games played between the two teams, Buffalo went 1-2-0. Here’s how it went down. You would have to fast forward to the month of January for the first game. In this game, the Sabres were wearing their black alternate jerseys at home, a look the team felt gave them some swagger:
“We love wearing it… we feel evil in the jersey.”
— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) January 8, 2023
Amazing quote from Dahlin on why they’re so successful in the black & red.
Surely that would carry over into this game right? Not so much.
Let’s put it this way, nothing good happened in this game for the Sabres. After the first period, it was 3-0 Flyers. They added one more in the third period and Buffalo lost 4-0 on home ice. It was a game to forget if you were a Sabres fan.
The last two meetings took place in Philadelphia as the second matchup was in the month of March. It was a rough month for Buffalo and this game was part of it. After the first 40 minutes, it was 4-0 Flyers.
Victor Olofsson scored two goals in the third but it wasn’t enough as the Sabres went on to lose 5-2. Again, it was just a brutal game for Buffalo as they were in the midst of fighting for a playoff spot and they played bad against a bad team. The Sabres had a tendency of playing down to their opponent last year, and their two losses to the Flyers were a prime example.
Buffalo Sabres had a tough stretch of games against the Flyers in 2022-23
The third and final meeting occurred on the first day of April. It didn’t start out well for Buffalo as Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the first period. With 10 seconds remaining though, Kyle Okposo tied the score.
The Sabres came out flying as they scored three goals before the five-minute mark of the second period. Alex Tuch scored his second of the game before the Flyers got one back and made it 5-2 heading into the third period.
Philly made it a two score game but Tuch got a hat trick and Buffalo finally defeated the Flyers. It was frustrating that the Sabres lost the season series but no team is an easy victory and Buffalo learned the hard way in this one.
(Historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)