Okposo hits 20 goals as Sabres battle back to beat Flyers at home

Kyle Okposo limped to the podium with a smile on his face.
He greeted the media following the Buffalo Sabres' 4-3 comeback win over the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center on Saturday, but earlier in the game, he was stewing. The Sabres got off to a slow start and found themselves down 2-0 in the first 3:55 of the contest.
Later in the period, Okposo was hit in the leg by a slap shot fired by teammate Tage Thompson and he struggled back to the bench. With this team down a pair after 20 minutes, he returned to the ice for the second period and 3:17 into the frame, he scored his 20th goal of the season on a pass from Peyton Krebs on the power play.
"I was steaming inside and I was pretty pent up. And if I didn't take that shot, I might've lost my marbles a little bit after the first," Okposo, who was also celebrating his 34th birthday, said.
Buffalo battled back to outscore Philadelphia 4-1 in the second period and held on in the third - killing off three penalties in the final 12 minutes - to earn the victory.

The four goals scored during the second period matched the team's four-goal performance in the first period on January 22 against Philadelphia for the most goals in a single frame this season.
The last time the Sabres scored four or more goals in a single period against the same opponent twice in one season was against Carolina on November 28, 2009 (five goals in the third period) and March 12, 2010 (four goals in the second period).
Rasmus Dahlin recorded a goal and an assist while Thompson and Vinnie Hinostroza also scored. Craig Anderson stopped 18 shots for his 16th win of the season.

"It was just great to see everybody kind of band together and not use that energy for negativity," Okposo said. "We used it the right way. That was that was a huge thing, and that was Donny's message after the first period. And I think it kind of calmed us down and made us refocus on what was important, and that's been beating them on the scoreboard. And I think that's what we did in the second."
That message from head coach Don Granato about channeling their emotions in positive ways certainly resonated.
"Yeah, my message to them was your emotional energy cannot go toward that other team, your physical, competitive energy's fine, but you do not need emotional energy," Granato said. "And I thought they were really, really good. Obviously, really good in the second period.
"In the third, we had kills more than we would've like to kill and we used a lot of different guys there, and the battle level remained high. It was nice to see that."

'When I'm competing, I'm playing my best game.'

Eleven different Sabres recorded points in the win, but Philadelphia struck first, 1:41 into the game. Bobby Brink skated in on a breakaway and while his deke beat Anderson, the shot hit the post and Joel Farabee knocked in the rebound.
The Flyers made it 2-0 when Owen Tippett, alone in front, backhanded a shot in 2:14 later. Buffalo started to find their game in the late stages of the period and really took off in the second starting with Okposo's goal.

Dahlin was the beneficiary of hard work by Jeff Skinner in the offensive zone to tie things up on a delayed penalty 8:27 into the second. Skinned bobbed and weaved his way in the Flyers end and eventually found Dahlin on the right wing with a cross-ice pass for a one-timer that beat Martin Jones.
Dahlin's goal tonight is his 11th of the season. It's the most goals a Sabres defenseman has scored in a single season since Jordan Leopold scored 13 times in 2010-11.
One of the battles to watch throughout the night was between Dahlin and Travis Konecny.
In the first period, Konecny laid a big hit on the Sabres defenseman in the corner, and it led to Dahlin committing a slashing minor when he hacked Konecny on his way back to the bench.
Later in the period, Konecny was assessed a roughing penalty after he mixed it up with Dahlin during a scrum in the neutral zone.
"I like a gritty game. That got me going for sure," Dahlin said. "I really wanted to score there and that's what happened. I don't have to score every time, but my game gets better when I'm in the game and battling and competing. I think that's the biggest thing. When I'm competing, I'm playing my best game."
Wirth 5:54 left in the second, Konecny got loose and roofed a shot short side to put the Flyers back in the lead.

But Hinostroza tied the game again 1:30 later and then Thompson gave Buffalo its first lead of the game with 2:02 remaining in the second when he went bar down on the power play for his 34th goal of the season.
"It starts with competing, it starts with working hard," Dahlin said. "We have a lot of skilled guys out there. When you start the period simple and hard, stuff like that comes. We played the right way (in) the second period and that period was big for us."

Back-to-back

The Sabres will play the Flyers again on Sunday to wrap up the home-and-home series. Faceoff from Wells Fargo Center is at 5 p.m. Pregame coverage on MSG begins at 4:30.
Buffalo will look to build on the lessons learned Saturday night.
"I thought it was a huge win," Okposo said. "We didn't come out in the first period and play our game, but to be able to realize that we needed to change and actually do it, I thought that spoke volumes about where we're at and where we're going as a team. And I just love the way that we came out in the second period and we just weren't going to be denied.
"They go up 3-2, it doesn't matter, we just keep going. We just keep chugging along and keep playing the right way and playing our game. We didn't let them dictate anything. Just couldn't be happier for the group."