Flyers eliminated from playoff contention with a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres

In a span of 2 minutes, 21 seconds, the Flyers’ dreams of extending their seven-game point streak were pulverized by the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The visitors scored three goals in that timeframe early in the second period to help them secure a 6-3 victory. The Sabres scored four goals in the middle 20 minutes thanks to Alex Tuch (twice), Jordan Greenway, and Jeff Skinner. Tuch completed his hat trick in the third period on a shorthanded goal.

Despite the difference on the scoreboard, the Flyers outshot the Sabres, 42-29.

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While the Flyers largely controlled the pace of play, posting 67 shot attempts to the Sabres’ 42, assistant coach Brad Shaw said the defense was too “impatient” during that second-period lapse.

“I thought we did a great job of, overall, limiting their offense, but in that small window there, we just got a little ahead of ourselves and we paid a price,” Shaw said. “Hopefully, it’s a lesson you learn from and you’re better next time.”

The Flyers suffered their first regulation loss since March 13, having gone 5-0-2. With the loss and Florida’s 7-0 victory over Columbus, the Flyers are eliminated from the playoffs.

Going into the game, Morgan Frost had been heating up offensively, collecting three goals and five assists in the last six games. He continued to flash his offensive skill set in the first period as the Flyers peppered Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with 14 shots on goal (to the Sabres’ four) and generated a whopping 30 shot attempts total, per Natural Stat Trick. Frost broke through first, collecting a loose puck and scoring from the right circle while falling to his knees to put the Flyers up, 1-0.

But the Flyers failed to hold their lead going into the first intermission, and Frost was partially to blame. In the waning seconds of the first period, he sent a blind pass from the left circle to the front of the net, which was intercepted by Mattias Samuelsson. Frost attempted to cover Kyle Okposo while the Sabres broke out of their zone, but Frost and the Sabres captain got tangled, creating an odd-man rush. Okposo received a pass from Peyton Krebs and beat Felix Sandström high glove side to tie the game, 1-1, with 9.3 seconds remaining in the frame.

“The thing for me is consistency,” Frost said. “Thought I had a good one the other night against Montreal and then played pretty poorly against Ottawa and then a little better tonight, so just try and get them all stringing together.”

The Sabres carried momentum into the second period, and the Flyers struggled to collect themselves defensively. Just 90 seconds into the period on an odd-man rush, Buffalo’s Casey Mittelstadt dropped a pass off for Tuch. He scored to give the Sabres their first lead of the night. Nearly a minute later, Greenway cashed in on a rebound to extend the lead to 3-1.

Skinner joined in on the scoring parade roughly a minute later. Skinner’s initial shot off the rush was denied by Sandström, but Skinner collected his own rebound and beat Sandström five-hole for a 4-1 lead.

The Flyers calmed down a bit following the three-goal flurry , but with four minutes remaining in the second period, Tuch fired a wrist shot past Sandström to give the Sabres a four-goal lead.

Frost continued to stick with it offensively, powering through the Sabres defense just 22 seconds after the Tuch goal, scoring his second of the night. But the Flyers never managed to dig themselves out of that second-period hole.

Saturday night marked winger Travis Konecny’s first game back since Feb. 20, when he sustained an upper-body injury against the Calgary Flames. Konecny flaunted his signature zippiness and his ability to drive the offense all night long. After racking up three shots in the first two periods, he broke through early in the third when center Noah Cates won an offensive-zone faceoff and dropped a pass to Konecny. His shot beat Luukkonen to cut the Sabres’ lead to 5-3.

While Konecny finished the night with a goal, he was on the ice for three of the Sabres’. He racked up 21:54 of ice time.

“Catesy just told me where to go and kind of just let it go,” Konecny said. “Found a spot. I don’t think I’ve scored one like that my whole career. So it’s kind of lucky [it] went in.”

The Flyers play the Pittsburgh Penguins on the second night of their back-to-back on Sunday night on the road (6 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia+).