Flyers top Sabres for 5th win in row
Philadelphia’s Valtteri Filppula scored the winner with 2½ minutes left in the second period and Travis Sanheim netted his first career goal to help the Flyers win their fifth straight game, 2-1 over Buffalo in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
Brian Elliott made 19 saves for the Flyers, whose hot streak comes on the heels of a 10-game losing streak.
The winning stretch began with a three-game Canadian trip that started with head coach Dave Hakstol changing the team’s formation to a more defensive-minded 1-2-2 alignment. Philadelphia has outscored opponents 19-8 since then.
Filppula put the Flyers ahead 2-1 after Jakub Voracek passed to a cutting Filppula, who shot high over goalie Robin Lehner’s right shoulder.
“I don’t think it was our best game, but you need to win these kinds of games,” Filppula said. “It’s a good sign.” Wild 2, Maple Leafs 0: Former Sharks goalie Alex Stalock stopped 28 shots for a shutout as host Minnesota won its fourth in a row. Stalock’s fifth career shutout was his first since he beat Montreal for the Sharks on March 2, 2015. “You just hope you can kind of keep it rolling,” Stalock said. “The way this group’s playing right now, just coming to the rink, everybody’s smiling. Everybody’s having fun.” Golden Knights 2, Pens 1: Jon Merrill’s first goal of the season snapped a third-period tie and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots against his former team as host Vegas beat Pittsburgh. It was the first meeting between the defending Stanley Cup champions and Golden Knights, who acquired Fleury from the Penguins during the NHL expansion draft June 21. Lightning 4, Coyotes 1: Nikita Kucherov scored his 22nd goal to tie Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for his NHL-best 21st victory for visiting Tampa Bay. Antti Raanta made 42 saves in Arizona’s fifth straight loss. Capitals 5, Bruins 3: Alex Chiasson scored two thirdperiod goals, the second on a shorthanded breakaway with 8:29 left, as visiting Washington extended its winning streak against Boston to 11 games. Predators 4, Oilers 0: Juuse Saros made 46 saves for his second career shutout and Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist as visiting Nashville extended its winning streak against Edmonton to 10 games. Ducks 3, Blues 1: Kevin Roy scored twice and John Gibson made 29 saves for visiting Anaheim, which has won three of four. St. Louis has lost two in a row following a four-game winning streak. Blue Jackets 6, Islanders 4: Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist for host Columbus, which won despite a hat trick by New York’s Josh Bailey. Avalanche 2, Panthers 1: Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals, including the winner at 6:44 of the third period, and Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves as host Colorado beat Florida for the second time in five days. Blackhawks 5, Jets 1: Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist as Chicago won its fourth in a row by ending Winnipeg’s home winning streak at seven games. Canadiens 2, Devils 1: Tomas Plekanec scored 1:52 into overtime as host Montreal snapped a three-game slide. Briefly: Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk is “week to week,” the team said, because of a lower-body injury that forced him out of a game Tuesday . ... The Jets placed defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (lower-body injury) on injured reserve.