Flyers top Sabres 3-2 to end 3-game losing streak

Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne and Max Talbot all scored and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 18 shots for the Flyers (12-14-1), who are still on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"We had confidence in our play and were positive on the bench and the room, so we had fun," Giroux said. "We need to be confident in what we do out there."

Trailing by a goal with 5:40 left, Cody Hodgson's shot slipped past Bryzgalov, positioned at the top of the crease. The puck inched its way toward the line when Schenn swooped in with a split-second lunge with his stick and cleared it for the save. Back on the bench, Schenn simply shrugged at the play.

Without it, the Flyers might have been in a deeper hole than they already are.

"I turned around to play defense and the shot deflected," Schenn said. "I don't know how close it was to the goal line, but to help Bryz out when I can is always a good feeling."

The win kept the Flyers in striking distance for a playoff spot. They are ahead of the Sabres, who are buried in last place in the Northeast Division and have lost four straight. Brian Flynn and Jochen Hecht scored for Buffalo.

With both teams struggling, tempers were short. Buffalo's Mike Weber slugged it out with Wayne Simmonds, and Sabres center Steve Ott threw a punch at Kimmo Timonen.

Hecht scored early in the third to make it 3-2 and give the Sabres some life. But Schenn followed with the save.

The Flyers will take the stops however they come. They needed this one a day after a 3-0 loss at Boston. The Flyers held a closed-door team meeting after the game.

"It doesn't take much to understand what's going on," Gagne said. "You look at the standings, and I think everyone came to the locker room today and looked at where we were at and how many games we have left. I'm not good at math but if you look at it we have to win games right now."

Philadelphia was coming off a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday, going scoreless in the final two periods and blowing a 4-1 lead. The drought reached five periods on Saturday.