Jeff Skinner nets his 13th goal in 15 games in Buffalo’s 5-2 win over Philadelphia.
By Heather Engel / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres scored 4 goals in the first period and won their seventh straight game, 5-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center on Wednesday.
It is Buffalo’s longest winning streak since 2006-07, when it started the season with 10 straight victories.
Jeff Skinner scored his 13th goal in 15 games, and Carter Hutton made 23 saves for the Sabres (14-6-2).
Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers (9-10-2), who have lost four straight.
Alex Lyon was relieved by Calvin Pickard to begin the second period after he allowed 4 goals on 12 shots in his first NHL game this season. Pickard made 8 saves.
Skinner gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 3:38 of the first period when the rebound of a Jason Pominville shot bounced out to him in the slot.
Tage Thompson scored his second of the season to make it 2-0, slipping around defenseman Radko Gudas to beat Lyon in close at 5:20. He scored his first goal in a 5-4 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
Evan Rodrigues picked up the rebound of Rasmus Dahlin’s shot in the low slot to extend Buffalo’s lead to 3-0 at 8:55 on the power play.
Johan Larsson scored with a shot from the left face-off circle to make it 4-0 with 8 seconds left in the period.
Giroux scored to get the Flyers to within 4-1 at 5:26 of the second period, and Simmonds narrowed it to 4-2 at 13:51 when he beat Hutton five-hole from the top of the crease.
Sam Reinhart scored an empty-net goal with 1:38 remaining for the 5-2 final score.