Flyers score six straight times after trailing by two, defeat Sabres

BUFFALO -- Claude Giroux had a goal and three assists, and the Philadelphia Flyers scored six straight goals in a 6-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

It's the second straight game the Flyers have rallied for at least a point after coming back from down two goals to force overtime, including a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol moved Giroux from left wing to center on their top line after they announced before the game that center Sean Couturier is day to day with a lower-body injury.
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Sabres highlights]
"[Claude] did a [heck] of a job today, not just going back into the middle," Hakstol said. "He's our captain and stepped up and led the way in a lot of different fashions tonight."
James van Riemsdyk, Ivan Provorov, Wayne Simmonds, Dale Weise and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers (12-12-3). Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves.

Jack Eichel scored twice for Buffalo (17-9-4), which has lost five straight (0-3-2) after its 10-game winning streak. Linus Ullmark made 35 saves.
"We've got to realize, we haven't earned anything in this league," Eichel said. "Just because we won a couple games doesn't mean we're just going to put our skates on and go out there and win. Every night you play, it's a battle. We've got to realize that. They just wanted it more. It's frustrating, to say the least."
Eichel, with speed coming down the right wing, made it 1-0 from the top of the circle at 4:04 of the first period. He put the Sabres ahead 2-0 at 12:02 when he deflected Lawrence Pilut's point shot. Eichel had at least two points in four of his past five games.

Van Riemsdyk, bumped up to the top line, made it 2-1 from the edge of the left circle at 12:52 off a face-off win by Giroux. It was his second goal in nine games since returning from a knee injury.
"[Giroux] and I, even going back to my last stint here, have always had some good chemistry and can play off each other pretty good, so it was nice to see we were able to pick up some of that where we left off," said van Riemsdyk, who played his first three NHL seasons with the Flyers from 2009-12, spent the next six with the Toronto Maple Leafs and signed with Philadelphia on July 1 as a free agent.
Provorov scored his first goal in 14 games to tie it 2-2 from the top of the left circle at 10:10 of the second period.

"I just thought once we got the two goals we thought it was going to be an easy game," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "We stopped checking. I think even saying that it's 2-2 in the third period, and I still thought we got outplayed in the second period because we didn't check as well. We didn't manage our game and there was some momentum in Philly's corner."
The Flyers capitalized on a Sabres turnover to take their first lead of the game. Giroux capped a shorthanded 3-on-1 for Philadelphia with a goal from the left face-off dot to make it 3-2 at 2:49 of the third period.
Simmonds extended it to 4-2 at 8:10 with a bouncing puck that slid past Ullmark. Weise made it 5-2 with a tap-in stick side at 9:25, and Konecny's redirect in front put the Flyers ahead 6-2 at 11:00.

They said it

"There was a quiet confidence on the bench not to change anything, just to push back and find a way to get one. Once we got one, everything fell back into place and guys relaxed. [Stolarz] was a big part of that." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol on trailing 2-0
"The streak we were on, that's over. It means nothing now. Now I think we're losing sight of what's made us successful. We hadn't worked, really, and that's a prime example. I thought they just outworked us for 40 minutes and that's why the game ended up 6-2. It's frustrating." --Sabres captain Jack Eichel

Need to know

Giroux has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak. ... Sabres forward Sam Reinhart had an assist to extend his point streak to a NHL career-high six games (five goals, four assists). … Eichel ranks third in the NHL with 14 multipoint games this season, one behind Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead. … Hakstol coached his 273rd game, passing Peter Laviolette for third among Flyers coaches, behind Fred Shero (554) and Mike Keenan (320). … The Sabres' home point streak ended at nine games (7-0-2).

What's next

Flyers: At the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN3, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, MSG-B, FS-W, NHL.TV)