Free-falling Flyers visit more-awful Sabres

The Flyers' problems - which include two straight shutout losses and injuries to three key players - don't look quite so bad compared to those of their opponent Saturday night, Buffalo.

The Sabres are scary bad. They lead the league in several dubious categories, including most goals allowed (157), fewest goals scored (82), goal differential (minus-75), and losses (28).

Buffalo (14-28-3) will take a nine-game losing streak into the game against the visiting Flyers (17-21-7), who have not scored in 144 minutes, 59 seconds.

The Sabres have set a franchise record with their nine straight regulation losses, during which they have been outscored 39-9.

"I feel bad for the fans that come here to support us," Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges told reporters after Buffalo was trounced by visiting Minnesota, 7-0, on Thursday.

Despite their futility, the Sabres have two more points than Edmonton (league-low 29) in the race to have the best chance to draft Connor McDavid. The team that finishes last has a 20 percent chance of winning the draft lottery and getting the No. 1 overall pick.

McDavid, who stars for Erie in the Ontario Hockey League, and Boston University's Jack Eichel are centers who are considered to be franchise cornerstones.

The Flyers are 12 points ahead of Edmonton and 10 points ahead of Buffalo, and they are a long shot to get McDavid or Eichel, though they could get lucky in the lottery.

Entering Friday, the Flyers had the seventh-worst NHL record. If they finished there, they would have a 6.5 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick in the lottery.

Those odds are much better than the team's playoff chances. According to Sports Club Stats, the Flyers have a 0.9 percent chance of earning a playoff berth.

"Everybody knows what kind of spot we are in now," defenseman Mark Streit said after the Flyers lost to Vancouver, 4-0, on Thursday. "It's a tough situation. . . . I think it's not the best thing to look at the standings now. We've got to gather ourselves and shake off this game.

"We have a good team and we showed it this year."

They have somehow managed to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings (twice), the Penguins, and the Lightning, but the Flyers have been far from a good team. They have allowed 2.87 goals per game (23d in the league) and are last in the NHL on the penalty kill (73.5 percent). They have a dismal 6-14-4 road record, have won just seven of 22 one-goal games, and have received little scoring from their second, third, and fourth lines.

And now they are playing without three injured players: goalie Steve Mason, one of the team's few bright spots, and veteran defensemen Braydon Coburn and Nick Grossmann.

Kimmo Timonen was examined by a specialist Friday to see if his blood clots have cleared, and he said he could have the results as soon as Saturday.