Dahlin scored his second power-play goal from the high slot to extend it to 4-1 at 13:51.
“I can just say that the young man’s been through a lot,” Ruff said of Dahlin. “There’s a guy that cares. He’s not happy with his game. What some would assess would be a good game, he says that’s not his standard. I think that’s a great place to be. I think he knows.
“I thought tonight he really skated well. You can look at the goals as an end result. The way he skated up ice, handled the puck, I think there’s more. That’s always the challenge with where you’re at as a team. Like, do you have more? I think he understands that part.”
Zegras scored on the power play to narrow it to 4-2 at 7:37 of the third period after Travis Konecny’s pass through the crease redirected off his skate past Luukkonen back door.
McLeod scored short-handed into an empty net at 19:20 for the 5-2 final.
“We’re not playing smart hockey,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “I know they only had 14 shots, but they capitalized. We gave them middle ice on three shots. We had moments but we’re not delivering right now so that’s the key, that’s it. If you’re giving up 14 shots, but we’re giving up four unbelievable middle shots, which is, the last couple of games, uncharacteristic of the team right now.”
NOTES: Tocchet did not have an update on Vladar. … Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. … Jamie Drysdale had one shot on goal in 25:25 of ice time in his return after missing three games with an upper-body injury. … Dahlin recorded his fifth multigoal game, matching Jerry Korab and John Van Boxmeer for second most by a defenseman in Sabres history. … Dahlin’s first goal was his 15th game-opening goal, passing Alexei Zhitnik for second most by a defenseman in Sabres history, behind only Phil Housley (24). … Luukkonen extended his home winning streak to seven games to tie the second-longest run in Buffalo history. … Forward Tyson Kozak played 9:05 in his first game since Dec. 18 after missing 11 games because of an upper-body injury and then as a healthy scratch.
