The Buffalo Sabres kicked off a six-game road trip on Wednesday night in Philadelphia against the Flyers. They had some momentum going into this game after winning their last two, but any momentum disappeared quickly in the first period.
In fact, it took only one minute for this game to be turned around and the Buffalo Sabres found themselves in a hole they couldn't dig themselves out of as they gave up three goals, including two power play goals, in 59 seconds.
The power play goals were really surprising as the Sabres had been one of the top teams in the league in penalty kills. Entering this game, the Sabres had the second-best penalty kill percentage and allowed only eight goals all season.
Unfortunately, the Sabres found themselves a man down early and often in this game, and the Flyers capitalized with two power-play goals in about 38 seconds.
Buffalo Sabres score a power play goal but miss out on opportunities
As good as the penalty kill has usually been for the Buffalo Sabres, their power play has been equally as bad. Entering this game, they had only 13 power play goals and a power play percentage of around 17%.
The Flyers gave them plenty of opportunities to get back into this game, and in fact, Buffalo did so on their first power play opportunity with Jason Zucker beating Samuel Ersson to score the first goal of the game. Unfortunately that would be the last power play goal, and they finished the game converting only one of six power play chances, which was the most they have had in one game all season.
Even with the fact that they allowed three straight goals, the Sabres certainly could have gotten back into this game if they had converted just one of the other power-play chances. After the game, Tage Thompson noted that special teams played a big role in the outcome, and it is something they have to get better at.
Thompson says special teams could've changed the game for them drastically, says they need to do a better job of resetting on the bench and in between periods, and says he takes the blame for that, he says he needs to help in that area. #Sabres
— Brian Koziol (@BrianWGR) December 4, 2025
They will need to figure something out quick because they will be playing a Winnipeg Jets team that will be motivated after the way the Sabres were able to dominate them to the tune of a 5-1 victory.