5 takeaways | Sabres fall to Flyers in shootout

Sam Reinhart found no solace in earning a road point, regardless of the circumstances.
The Buffalo Sabres took the ice without captain Jack Eichel and led for most of regulation after responding to an early goal against but ultimately came up short in a 5-4 shootout loss at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.
The loss extended Buffalo's winless stretch to eight games (0-6-2).

"We're not at the point [where] we're taking moral victories from being close in games right now," Reinhart said. 'That's just the sad reality of it. … Right now, it's disappointing we couldn't finally get a win."
Reinhart scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, increasing his team-leading total to 11. Riley Sheahan and Brandon Montour also scored while Jonas Johansson made 29 saves.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.

1. Sabres let lead slip

In what has been a recurring theme of late, Philadelphia took a quick lead when James van Riemsdyk buried a crossing feed from Joel Farabee just 1:56 into the contest. This time, Buffalo had a response.
Reinhart buried a feed from Dylan Cozens at the 4:33 mark to kick off a string of three straight Sabres goals to conclude the first period. Kevin Hayes scored for the Flyers early in the second, but the Sabres responded once again within four minutes on a goal from Montour.
The Flyers pushed from that point on, outchancing the Sabres by a tally of 20-9 at 5-on-5 during the second and third periods (according to NaturalStatTrick.com).
Claude Giroux cut the lead to one with 4:55 remaining in the second period, forcing his way into the blue paint and tapping in a pass seconds after a Flyers power play had concluded. Shayne Gostisbehere scored a power-play goal from the point to tie the game with 5:46 left in regulation.
"Overall, the slippage of the game was just not [being] quite strong enough on some pucks, not firm enough," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "Philadelphia just stayed persistent on them and turnovers led to PK situations, which took us out of our rhythm and gave them power plays."

2. Hall: "Find a way to play confidently"

Taylor Hall said he felt the team began to play on its heels with the lead rather than keeping with the aggressive mentality it has sought to establish.
"If you let them have the puck all night, it's not advantageous to you," he said. "So, we have to learn how to play with a lead and just go play. I mean, let's be serious, we're a lot of points out of the playoffs, we should just be playing loose and just going and playing free."

3. Eichel to miss at least one week

Krueger revealed that the Sabres captain traveled back to Buffalo early and will miss at least the next week. The team announced Tuesday morning that Eichel would miss the game due to an upper-body injury.
"We have an upper-body situation that needs some deeper analysis before decide further," he said.

4. Cozens moves to center

Cozens got the nod at center between Hall and Reinhart in Eichel's absence. As has been the case often this season, the rookie made a strong first impression.
Cozens made a quick pass to set up Reinhart's first goal following a strong forecheck from Hall. He finished the game having skated 14:10, matched up primarily with reigning Selke Trophy winner Sean Couturier.

"I think he looked like a natural fit there, obviously playing there the majority of his life," Reinhart said. "Really liked his game tonight just like most nights out of him."

5. The big picture

The Sabres conclude their five-game road trip without a victory and with a daunting pace ahead. They have a scheduled day off Wednesday followed by a stretch of four games in six days that begins against the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Coverage on Thursday begins at 6:30 p.m. on MSG. Puck drop is scheduled for 7.