Andres Nilsson makes 39 saves; Sam Reinhart gets goal and two assists for Buffalo.
By Joe Yerdon / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists and Anders Nilsson made 39 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
Nilsson started in place of Robin Lehner, who is ill.
Reinhart gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 5:15 into the second period with a power-play goal. Reinhart received a pass from defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and took a shot from the side of the net that beat Flyers goalie Steve Mason for his ninth goal of the season.
William Carrier made it 2-0 at 8:39 when he scored on a rebound of a shot by defenseman Taylor Fedun that went off Mason’s right pad. Carrier returned after missing the past two games with an illness.
Reinhart assisted on Evander Kane’s 10th goal of the season with nine seconds left in the second. Reinhart has three goals and nine assists in the past 10 games.
Brayden Schenn scored a power-play goal for the Flyers with 2:07 to play. Schenn shot a loose puck past Nilsson after a shot by Claude Giroux was blocked. Rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov extended his point streak to three games with an assist.
Marcus Foligno scored into an empty net with four seconds to play.
The Sabres (16-15-9) have won two straight and three of the past four. The Flyers (21-16-6) have lost two straight and seven of the past eight.
Ryan O’Reilly had two assists and has a goal and five assists in the past three games since returning from an appendectomy that caused him to miss four games.
Okposo named All-Star
Kyle Okposo is headed to the 2017 NHL All-Star Game as the Buffalo Sabres’ representative.
He leads the team in goals with 12 and scoring with 27 points. His 15 assists rank third on the club behind Rasmus Ristolainen (23) and Sam Reinhart (16). It’ll mark his first All-Star Game appearance.
“I’m excited. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of,” Okposo said. “You throw it on the TV when you’re growing up or even now and the All-Star Game is a pretty cool event. I’m thrilled to be participating this year and I’m very honored to be selected.”
The 28-year-old forward signed a seven-year deal with the Sabres over the summer. He’s served as an alternate captain for a handful of games and his veteran presence has been felt up and down the lineup.
Sabres recall Ullmark
The Sabres recalled goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Rochester Americans. He served as the backup to Andres Nilsson as Robin Lehner was out with the flu.
Ullmark (23, 6-foot-4, 221 lbs.) joins the team for his third recall of 2016-17 but has yet to appear in an NHL game this season. With 28 appearances for the Americans this season, the Lugnvik, Sweden native has already matched the total from his rookie AHL season in 2015-16. He has posted a 14-13-1 record and .906 save percentage so far in his second North American season.
Buffalo’s sixth-round pick (163rd overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft, Ullmark played in 20 games for the Sabres in 2015-16, posting a .913 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average. His 8-10-2 record in 2015-16 included wins in each of his last three NHL appearances.