Flyers swept by Sabres on the season, continue slide to the finish line

The Flyers' sinking below the Sabres was punctuated Sunday night by a 5-3 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.

Kevin Hayes, Noah Cates and Zack MacEwen scored goals for the Flyers, who were swept in their home-and-home back-to-back set against Buffalo. Mike Yeo's club lost to the Sabres, 4-3, Saturday night at KeyBank Center.

The playing-out-the-string Flyers (23-42-11) are stuck in another losing streak. They've lost five straight, a stretch in which they've been outscored 27-11.

Is it tough to find motivation over the final stretch of these games given there's no playoff race?

"Everyone's in a different position I feel like," Hayes said. "There should be motivation, it's the NHL. We get paid millions of dollars to show up and perform at our job. And if you can't find motivation, you shouldn't be on the ice."

The listed attendance on Easter Sunday was a meager 14,377.

The Flyers went 0-3-0 against the Sabres (29-38-11) this season. Dating back to last season, they've lost their last five meetings with Buffalo (0-5-0) while being outscored 26-13.

• The Flyers' league-worst power play went 0 for 2 and is 13 for 131 (9.9 percent) since the calendar turned to 2022.

When the Flyers pulled their goalie looking for an equalizer, they failed to convert.

"Certainly didn’t quit," Yeo said. "You could see right to the very end, guys kept competing.

"At different points, I'd say it's a matter of execution. At different points, it's a matter of puck support. But obviously the ability to advance the puck, to get the puck out of our zone and to get on the attack, too many times that turned into chances against or goals against."

• In his third career NHL start, Felix Sandstrom was solid again with 35 saves on 39 shots.

Two of the Sabres' goals were power play markers. Tage Thompson's second goal of the game was an empty-netter.

The 25-year-old Sandstrom kept the Flyers within striking distance during the third period.

"He's played really well," MacEwen said. "Given the circumstances, he’s done a great job and I think he should keep his head up."

Buffalo netminder Dustin Tokarski denied 32 of the Flyers' 35 shots.

• The 23-year-old Cates recorded the first multi-point game of his NHL career (one goal, one assist).

The winger has five points (three goals, two assists) through his first 10 games at this level. He has been a positive for the Flyers, who head into the offseason looking for answers throughout their lineup.

Cates has worked his way into the discussion.

"There are so many good guys in that locker room that want to win," Cates said. "It's just frustrating that we're not. We're playing hard. It's just a little extra effort here and there that I think we'll get it done."

Hayes also had a multi-point game (one goal, one assist), giving him 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) over 22 games since returning from the infection in his groin area.

• For a third straight game, the Flyers were without Carter Hart (lower body), Cam Atkinson (lower body), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), Cam York (lower body) and Patrick Brown (upper body).

The Flyers were hoping Atkinson would be available Sunday but their leading scorer felt some pain when he recently skated.

"I know he's meeting with the doctors tonight and I think we'll have a little bit more clarity as far as whether he'd be joining us on the trip or not," Yeo said pregame Sunday.

The Flyers' interim head coach said Brown is "almost all but definitely out for the season."

Nick Seeler has been out since March 2, when he suffered a lower-body injury. Yeo said the Flyers haven't made a decision yet on the defenseman's status for the final six games of the season.

On Friday, Yeo provided the latest on Hart, Ristolainen and York.

• The Flyers head to Canada for a couple of games: Tuesday against the Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP) and Thursday against the Canadiens (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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