The Buffalo Sabres have had a rough go of it to begin the 2023-24 NHL season. Buffalo have had stretches where they've outplayed teams and still lost. However, that wasn't the case on Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. And captain Kyle Okposo admitted as much after the game when speaking to reporters.

“We didn't play the game that needed to be played. They outworked and that's not something that we're going to take lightly and that's not something that you should ever be saying after this,” the Sabres captain said, via Buffalo News reporter Mike Harrington.

The Sabres got off to a horrific start, allowing two goals within the first two minutes of the game. Veteran forward Scott Laughton opened the scoring a little more than a minute after the opening faceoff. Less than 30 seconds later, defenseman Louie Belpedio found the back of the net, as well.

Philadelphia extended their lead against the Sabres to four by the third period. Forward Travis Konecny scored his ninth goal of the season in the first period. That goal drew him into a tie with Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat and Anaheim Ducks forward Frank Vatrano for the league lead. In the second period, it was Garnet Hathaway who scored for Philadelphia.

The Sabres would get on the board thanks to Henri Jokiharju in the third. However, they were never truly in the game. Bobby Brink scored the fifth Flyers goal of the game to cement another brutal loss for the Sabres.

Buffalo is back in action on Saturday as they travel to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's see if Kyle Okposo's team can avoid a repeat performance of Friday's loss to the Flyers against an Atlantic Division rival.