Flyers notch commanding 6-1 win over Sabres

James van Riemsdyk scored two goals, Matt Niskanen added one goal and one assist, and the host Philadelphia Flyers routed the Buffalo Sabres 6-1 on Thursday. Mikhail Vorobyev, Ivan Provorov and Tyler Pitlick each scored one goal while Travis Konecny recorded three assists for the Flyers, who won their second in a row.

Kevin Hayes and Sean Couturier had two assists apiece for the Flyers, who improved to 12-2-4 at home. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 16 saves.

Buffalo's Jack Eichel, who had a 17-game streak with at least one point, was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. The league also ruled that because Eichel missed the game with an injury, his point-scoring streak has now come to an end. Victor Olofsson scored the lone goal for the Sabres, who dropped their third in a row (0-2-1).

Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton struggled the entire game and stopped 23 shots. The Flyers went ahead 1-0 at 13:04 of the first period when Vorobyev recorded his first goal of the season. The shot appeared to deflect off Buffalo's Conor Sheary.

Soon after at 15:32, Hayes beat Sheary to a loose puck, spun around and sent a pass to van Riemsdyk, who scored for a 2-0 advantage. Philadelphia continued to dominate as Niskanen connected on the power play at 17:05 for a 3-0 lead.

The Sabres' offense was relatively stagnant as they managed only five shots on goal in the first period. The Flyers kept up their aggressive style, drew a power play and then went ahead 4-0 when Provorov scored at 8:20 of the second. Pitlick scored just 1:02 later for a 5-0 lead.

Philadelphia scored on the power play for the third time when van Riemsdyk connected at 12:27 of the middle period for a commanding 6-0 advantage. The Sabres' frustration escalated as Rasmus Dahlin became entangled with Konecny at 18:36 of the second. Dahlin was given a double minor for slashing and cross-checking and appeared visibly upset. Konency was penalized for roughing.

Olofsson got the Sabres on the board with a power-play goal at 11:35 of the third.