Flyers at Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have made it a habit of erasing third-period deficits, so much so that they have accomplished that feat five times during their six-game win streak. The Sabres bid to keep surging ahead on Wednesday when they host the Philadelphia Flyers, who overcame a four-goal deficit in the third period before dropping a 6-5 overtime decision in their last contest.
"There's a bit of confidence now because we've done it a few times. I think it's a trust and a belief in each other," said captain Jack Eichel, who scored 45 seconds into overtime on Monday as Buffalo overcame a three-goal deficit to win its sixth straight for the first time since the 2009-10 season with a 5-4 victory versus Pittsburgh. The resilient Sabres have won all six contests by one goal -- with four coming either in overtime or a shootout -- heading into a stretch of three games in four nights. Philadelphia has dropped its last three contests (0-2-1) despite outshooting its foes by a combined 104-83 margin, including 45-26 in Saturday afternoon's wild 6-5 overtime loss to Tampa Bay. "We've talked about different things we can do a little better — simplifying things, making sure we're getting to the net," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said, per Philly.com. "To have the floodgates open in the third period the other night was needed and was a good thing for us."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia-Plus, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE FLYERS (9-9-2): Alex Lyon, who posted a 4-2-1 mark in 11 appearances with Philadelphia in 2017-18, is expected to make his first NHL start of this season on Wednesday after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League last week. "I've prepared the right way," the former Yale star said after Tuesday's practice. "I'm just sticking to the same game plan. I just tried to go out and have a really good practice today, and whenever the situation may call, I'll be ready for it." The Flyers have been much more ready on the road, where they are 3-0-1 in their last four overall and 5-3-1 on the season as opposed to 4-6-1 at Wells Fargo Center.
ABOUT THE SABRES (13-6-2): Jeff Skinner has embraced playing on a line with Eichel and Jason Pominville, scoring eight of his team-high 14 goals this month. "You want to have success individually, as a line and as a team," the 26-year-old Skinner told the Buffalo News. "Obviously, it's a pretty small sample and for us we want to try to sustain it over a long period of time. ... We've had some success and now the key is to keep working every day to get better and keep improving." Eichel has 19 (two goals, 17 assists) of his club-best 24 points in his last 14 games while Pominville has 16 (eight goals, eight assists) in that stretch.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia C Sean Couturier (team-leading eight goals) tallied twice in three encounters last season with Buffalo.
2. The availability of Sabres D Marco Scandella (knee) is unclear after he was on the receiving end of Evgeni Malkin's shot on Monday.
3. The Flyers went 3-for-5 on the power play on Saturday after going for 2-for-32 in their previous 11 games.