Tippett scores 1st NHL hat trick for Flyers in win against Sabres

PHILADELPHIA -- Owen Tippett scored his first NHL hat trick for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Center on Friday.

Tippett had one goal in his previous six games but led Philadelphia with 31 shots on goal over that stretch.
"It's nice to kind of get rewarded after the last couple games of having so many shots," Tippett said.
Victor Olofsson scored twice, and Craig Anderson made 17 saves for the Sabres (33-29-6), who have lost eight of their past 10 games (2-6-2). They remained six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, who are tied for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"Didn't think there was many guys that look liked themselves tonight," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "I thought just a few guys. You could probably count them on one hand that actually looked energized, fresh and themselves tonight.
" ... We're in a position that every point matters. Fortunately, there's a lot of pain to that and you have to learn to rise. I didn't feel we did that well enough today. This is a good position for that reason to be in, because we need to develop that. That needs to be developed and it's obvious that's something that's developed through the League. Hardship's got to make us better."

Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Flyers (25-32-11), who had lost four in a row. Carter Hart made 34 saves.
Tippett gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 15:10 of the first period with a power-play goal.
He scored his second goal at 13:14 of the second period on a one-timer from the left face-off circle to make it 3-0. It was his 20th goal of the season.
Tippett completed the hat trick at 5:33 of the third period to make it 5-1. He was first on a long flip pass out of the defensive zone from Tony DeAngelo, raced in alone on Anderson, deked him to the ice and finished the breakaway.
"He's playing great and just keeps getting better and better," said DeAngelo, who assisted on two of Tippett's three goals. "His speed, you can't defend his speed. He gets a step on you, and he's gone. Too big, too strong, great shot, good finisher. It's good to see somebody taking a step like that and just keep running with it."
Farabee made it 2-0 at 3:53 of the second. He led a 2-on-1 rush with Tyson Foerster, whose shot missed the net, but Farabee recovered the puck off the end boards and slid it under Anderson. It was Farabee's first goal in 27 games, dating back to Jan. 9, when Philadelphia won 4-0 at Buffalo.
"The air came out of the balloon, and we started to press," Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. "Just a tough second [period] tonight."

Van Riemsdyk made it 4-0 at 18:21, tapping in a pass from Scott Laughton in front.
Tippett also played on the Flyers' top checking line, along with Noah Cates and Laughton. They were matched against Buffalo's top line of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch, and limited them to seven shots on goal.
"Our top guys did not look like themselves," Granato said. "They were outstanding in Toronto (4-3 win Monday) ... then they didn't have a great game in Washington, obviously (5-4 shootout loss Wednesday). Tonight, they weren't themselves. ... They looked tired."
Olofsson cut it to 4-1 on the power play at 2:27 of the third.
Olofsson scored another power-play goal with 0.4 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final. The forward had been scratched the previous two games.
NOTES:The Sabres signed goalie
Devon Levi
to a
three-year, entry-level contract
Friday. ... Tippett hadn't scored three goals in a game since Feb. 13, 2019, when he played for Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League. ... Foerster's assist on Farabee's goal was his first NHL point in his fourth game. ... Tippett's power-play goal ended the Flyers' 0-for-12 drought, spanning five games. ... Van Riemsdyk's goal was his first in 12 games; he's two away from 300 in the NHL. ... Philadelphia forward Kevin Hayes had two assists for his first multipoint game since Jan. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets.