Sabres 3, Flyers 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists to lead the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
Jack Eichel, Buffalo's 18-year-old center, scored his fourth goal of the season, matching O'Reilly for the team lead. Left winger Nicolas Deslauriers also scored for the Sabres (4-7).
Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark made 26 saves in his second career start. At 22, Ullmark is the youngest goalie to earn a win for the Sabres since 21-year-old Mika Noronen in 2000.
O'Reilly, the Sabres' top-line center, matched his career high with three points and extended his points streak to five games, during which he has recorded three goals and seven assists.
Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth, a former Sabre, made 33 saves in his return after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
Defenseman Mark Streit had the lone goal for the Flyers (4-4-2), who opened a five-game road stretch with their third straight loss.
Eichel put the Sabres up 1-0 with 35.4 seconds left in the first period. Taking a pass from O'Reilly along the left wall, Eichel maneuvered around Flyers defenseman Evgeni Mdvedev, glided over to the right slot and fired a wrist shot back toward the left side of the goal.
The Sabres, who entered Friday ranked second in the NHL with 33.6 shots on goal per game, outshot the Flyers 15-7 in the first period.
Buffalo bested that with 16 second-period shots and took a 2-0 lead on O'Reilly's power-play goal 4:20 into the period. O'Reilly's slap shot from the left circle came off a pass from right winger Brian Gionta and with center Zemgus Girgensons screening in front.
O'Reilly set up Deslauriers for a one-timer in front of the net that gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead 3:12 into the third period. The goal came 10 seconds after the Sabres killed off a two-minute penalty on Deslauriers for charging.
Streit ended Ullmark's shutout bid with 3:26 remaining in the game. Center R.J. Umberger and right winger Sam Gagner assisted on Streit's goal, his third of the season.
Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges received a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty for boarding Flyers forward Matt Read in the back with 43 seconds left in the game.
NOTES: Flyers C Sean Couturier sat out his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury that many believe to be a concussion. LW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare missed the game due to a lower-body injury. ... Sabres RW Tyler Ennis missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. ... D Mike Weber was a healthy scratch for Buffalo, while D Brandon Manning was a healthy scratch for Philadelphia. ... This was the teams' second meeting in four days. The Sabres won 4-3 in overtime Tuesday in Philadelphia. The next meeting is Feb. 11 in Philadelphia.