After losing the game and one of their most important players against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers were able to bounce back in a big way. Goals from five different players and strong special teams play resulted in a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
The basics
First period: 4:08 – Jason Zucker (Josh Doan, Josh Norris) (PPG), 8:26 – Travis Konecny (Matvei Michkov, Travis Sanheim) (PPG), 9:04 – Trevor Zegras (Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny), 9:25 – Bobby Brink (Noah Cates, Nikita Grebenkin)
Second period: 1:45 – Noah Cates (Bobby Brink, Jamie Drysdale), 11:48 – Bowen Byram (Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn), 12:43 – Owen Tippett (Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier)
Third period: no scoring
SOG: 35 (PHI) – 26 (BUF)
Early penalty trouble
The start of this game did not go well the Flyers, but not in the way that we’ve come to expect. They were lively from the jump, but two penalties in the first five minutes of the game could have really derailed this one early. First it was Cam York, who was called for flipping the puck over the glass. The Sabres made quick work of the Flyers’ penalty kill, with Josh Doan hitting Jason Zucker in the low slot with a pass from behind the net to give Buffalo the early lead. After a game in which the Flyers allowed three power play goals, this was shaping up to be a long night when just 30 seconds after the goal Matvei Michkov was called for interference.
However, the Flyers were able to recover. Rodrigo Abols drew a hooking penalty on Tage Thompson during Buffalo’s second power play, and the tide began to shift. It was great to see the penalty kill rebound after a troubling outing against Pittsburgh, killing the five Buffalo power plays that followed, and allowing only one goal in just under 10 shorthanded minutes.
A quick response
The Flyers certainly appear to have a knack for scoring in bunches. While they didn’t break any (team) records this time, they still scored three in just under a minute. Travis Konecny got the party started with a shot from the point through traffic.
Tie game! We even double checked. #BUFvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/YndNqBSgDT
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 4, 2025
Konecny had gone about a month without scoring a goal, and after losing one that we thought he had against the Devils (later credited to Michkov), it looked as if another goal was going to be taken away from him. The Sabres challenged for goaltender interference, and after a bit a pause, the goal was deemed good. This marked the end of Konecny’s goal drought, for real this time, at 11 games.
The failed challenge put the Flyers back on the power play, and Zegras quickly increased the Flyers lead with a pass attempt that found the back of the net. While it was a lucky one, it was great to see the new-look power play click, giving Tocchet a reason to keep Michkov and Zegras on the same unit. We’ve been waiting to see these two get more time together, and hopefully this will give this unit a bit of a runway.
But the Flyers weren’t done there! Only 21 seconds later, after a nice passing play between the two, Brink was able to put home the rebound of a Cates shot to put the Flyers up by two.
Scoring is contagious! #BUFvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/lqBw893zNX
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 4, 2025
Also of note on the second goal is the play that Grebenkin makes to keep the puck in the offensive zone. It’s a poor pass by Zach Benson that hits Tage Thompson and allows Grebenkin to make the play, but he’s in the right place at the right time to keep the puck in the zone. Speaking of…
Checking in on Grebenkin
With Tyson Foerster out of the lineup for 2-3 months, one way to fill the hole in the Flyers’ lineup involves moving Grebenkin up from the fourth line. He’s had a bit of a underwhelming season to this point, but with more ice time and linemates who are a bit less limited offensively, he’ll have more of a chance to show the version of his game that stood out so much in the preseason.
Ahead of the game, Rick Tocchet reunited two-thirds of the Flyers’ most common line. Brink and Cates were back together, this time with a new linemate: Grebenkin. There wasn’t a ton of five-on-five play in this one, and while the line did look good in the first period, they weren’t so hot the rest of the way. It’s not that they were making noticeable mistakes, but they were getting shelled pretty heavily by the numbers. It matches the eye test, as outside of moments on the power play from Cates and Brink, this line went pretty quiet for the final 40 minutes.
However, it would be a mistake to break them up after just one game, and the first period showed us the potential of the line. Grebenkin and Cates in particular seemed to be reading off of each other well, and we’ll look for that to continue with more reps.
Michkov’s excellent passes
Matvei Michkov might be back. With two assists and a steady stream of offensive pressure from his line, Michkov put together one of his best games of the season. One of his best passes directly led to the Tippett goal, giving the Flyers a much-needed insurance marker.
Knocked it out of the air and into the net. 😮💨#BUFvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/siv3Hlfvo0
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 4, 2025
His creativity was noticeable throughout, and he could’ve easily picked up a third or even fourth assist tonight with the way that his line was creating offense. Late in the third period, Tippett was robbed on another sweet Michkov pass.
The sky is blue. Grass is green. Michkov touches the ice, he creates chances. Glad to have you back, Matvei.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/dJLvPQssTX
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 4, 2025
Getting Michkov going is supremely important for the Flyers, both short-term to stay in the playoff race, and long-term for their overall success. While we’d maybe like to see him play a little more than he did tonight (15:37 TOI), only four Flyers forwards saw the ice more than him, so we’ll take it.
An injury scare for Zegras
Averaging a point-per-game through the first quarter of the season, Zegras has revived his offensive game and has been the most exciting Flyer this season. So it was worrying when he was slow to get up after being on the receiving end of a huge hit.
Rasmus Dahlin LAYS OUT Trevor Zegras, and Cam York, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim JUMP HIM#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/lSGFq5SWOx
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) December 4, 2025
After whipping the puck behind the net, Zegras gets hit from behind, right through the numbers, and into the boards. Rasmus Dahlin was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding. Fortunately, Zegras popped up relatively quickly and was right back on the ice for the ensuing power play. It’s an unnecessary hit, and the the major was the right call.
For all the talk about this team needing to do a better job sticking up for each other over the years, they did well here. York appears to be the only one who saw what happened, but Sanheim, Konecny, and Dvorak all follow his lead an go after Dahlin for the hit.
Unfortunately, this would be the last time that we saw York tonight.
York disappears
While Zegras may have avoided injury, it seems that York did not. It’s hard to tell what could have potentially happened to York in the scrum, but it was his final shift of the game. Already down one of their most impactful players in Foerster, losing York would be a huge blow. There’s not a lot of good options for the Flyers when it comes to replacing York, though when it comes to replacing a player of his caliber, that’s not exactly a unique problem. For now we’ll just have to hope that it’s a minor thing and that York will be back sooner rather than later.