Banged-up Flyers get off to a hot start, roll Sabres, 5-1, in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Who said hockey games were supposed to make sense?

The Flyers came here without their No. 1 goalie and without their best two-way center. Their backup goalie hadn’t been able to stop a beach ball. They outshot this same Buffalo Sabres team, 40-15, Wednesday night and scored just two goals. Their slow start in that game was the difference.

On Friday night inside KeyBank Center, the Flyers scored twice in the first 91 seconds, three times on their first eight shots, and got a strong performance from Sam Ersson in goal in a 5-1 win.

The message from the players and coach John Tortorella over the last few days was simply to just keep with it, and the goals would come.

The Flyers did that, and improved their record to 5-5-1.

“I’ve liked the way we’ve played,” Tortorella said. “I know we’ve had a bad run here, losing some games, but I like our team ... I like the attitude of the team no matter if we’re winning or losing.”

» READ MORE: The Flyers aren’t as bad as their record. Actually, their underlying numbers are quite good.

Ersson was understandably frustrated with the start to his 2023-24 season. He entered Friday night with a 4.91 goals-against average and a .763 save percentage through his first 172 minutes of game action.

But with Carter Hart sidelined — day-to-day, the Flyers say — with an injury, Ersson got another chance Friday night after relieving Hart on Wednesday.

Tortorella was convinced his No. 2 goalie would bounce back, and he did.

“Somehow, he figures it out and gets himself back on track, so I’m happy for him,” Tortorella said.

What’s the best way to give a struggling goalie a boost? Stake him to a 2-0 lead in 91 seconds. The Flyers dominated in the first period, allowing Ersson to settle in.

“I can’t say it’s a bad thing,” Ersson said about the early lead. “You still have to stop the puck, but a good start is a good start.”

The goalie was tested more in the second period, and made his best save on Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo about a minute before the horn sounded on the end of the second period.

The Sabres finally beat Ersson early in the third period when Henri Jokiharju scored on a wrist shot from the high slot to cut the Flyers’ lead to 4-1. But Ersson rebounded with a strong kick save on the next shift and was perfect the rest of the way. Bobby Brink put the game away with a partial breakaway goal after a great play by Joel Farabee to give the Flyers and Ersson breathing room with a 5-1 lead and 8 minutes, 32 seconds on the clock.

Ersson made 21 saves on the night.

He said he came into Friday looking for something positive. He drew on his experience in KeyBank Center in January, when he earned his first career shutout in a 4-0 win.

“It’s a relief,” Ersson said of his performance. “The guys have been playing well in the games I’ve been playing. It’s about time I got a win for them.

“It was a tough start for me. This win kind of gets me back into things. I think for me, now, I have to build on this and keep moving forward.”

Defenseman Louie Belpedio has mostly been a minor leaguer during his seven-season professional career. Friday night was just his ninth NHL game and fifth with the Flyers after they called him up last week.

The 27-year-old realized a dream, scoring his first NHL goal. It gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead 1 minute, 31 seconds into the game.

Belpedio received a pass near the blue line and quickly fed it to Morgan Frost, who turned and sent a shot toward the net. The puck was blocked and landed right on Belpedio’s stick, and he buried it by Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 38 saves Wednesday night when the teams played in Philadelphia.

“I never really thought about how it would go in. It was just a matter of when,” Belpedio said. “I had the whole net, so I’ll take it any way I can get it. I’m not complaining.”

He said he was looking forward to checking his phone to see the messages. Asked how many he thought he’d have, he joked: “It depends how much people love me, I guess. If I get 10, I’d be happy. Mom, Dad, cousins, brother, that knocks out a few.”

Travis Konecny continued his hot start to the season by tallying his ninth goal in 11 games, scoring on a breakaway to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead 15 minutes into the first period. ... Scott Laughton opened the scoring 63 seconds into the game, his first goal of the season. ... Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, son of former Flyers defenseman Kjell, did not return to the game after the first period, leaving Buffalo with five defensemen. ... Garnet Hathaway gave the Flyers a 4-0 lead late in the second period off of a great pass from Ryan Poehling. ... Sean Couturier is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

The Flyers were headed quickly back to Philadelphia after the game. They host the Los Angeles Kings Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia). The team departs Sunday for a three-game California road trip that kicks off Tuesday night in San Jose and ends with a back-to-back set Friday (Anaheim) and Saturday (Los Angeles).