PHILADELPHIA -- With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Philadelphia Flyers right winger Jake Voracek was trying to collect himself on the bench after absorbing an open-ice hit from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov that sent him and his helmet tumbling to the ice.

Minutes later, Voracek was deking his way around Sabres goaltender Anders Nilsson and roofing a shot under the crossbar for the game-winning goal in a come-from-behind 4-3 shootout victory by the Flyers Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

"That's why you stay until the end," Voracek said, noting some empty seats in the third period. "But I understand they want to beat traffic."

Trailing 3-0 after two periods, the Flyers received third-period goals from rookie Travis Konecny, center Brayden Schenn and defenseman Mark Streit to tie the score, and won it on shootout goals by Claude Giroux (two assists) and Voracek.

The Flyers (3-3-1) have won two of their last three games, while the Sabres (1-2-2) lost their third straight contest (0-1-2). Right winger Matt Moulson scored twice for the Sabres, with Tyler Ennis netting Buffalo's other goal.

"We gave them that," Moulson said. "You have to put teams away, especially when you have that kind of lead."

"We controlled the game for the first two periods, then we kind of backed off in the third and let them in the game," said Nilsson, who lost his season debut and was defeated for the first time in seven career shootouts (6-1).

Kulikov's big hit on Voracek, which came with 3:20 remaining in regulation and the Sabres holding a 3-1 lead, changed the complexion of the game. With Voracek recovering on the Flyers bench and Kulikov serving a charging minor, Schenn made it 3-2 with 2:56 to play.

"It's a good hit; it's a hard hit; it's through the body," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "He's not extending his elbow or anything, I'm more concerned the reason we took the penalty. We turned the puck over at the blue line and it forced us to play defense, take the penalty and allow him to go on the power play."

Nilsson, who made his season debut in place of No. 1 goaltender Robin Lehner (illness), took the loss.

Trailing 3-0 after two periods, the Flyers tied it with three power-play goals in the third. Konecny got things started at the 4:30 mark when he redirected a point shot by rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov for his first NHL goal. Konecny threw himself into the glass in celebration and the Flyers seemed to feed off his energy.

"If you get that first one, anything can happen," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "It was a pretty deep hole to dig out of, but getting that one provided a spark for our bench and for our building and anything can happen from there."

Schenn snapped a cross-ice pass from Claude Giroux past Nilsson for his first goal of the season.

The Sabres took another penalty when center Sam Reinhart was whistled for high sticking Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning and the Flyers again capitalized, with Streit tying the score with 1:51 remaining.

Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth was pulled after allowing three goals on 17 shots. It marked the second time in two starts this season that Neuvirth was replaced by Steve Mason. In his previous start Oct. 18, Neuvirth surrendered four goals on 16 shots in a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Sabres were facing an opponent who had played the night before for the first of six times this season -- they will be on the other end of that scenario 14 times -- and took advantage in the second period with three goals.

After a scoreless first period -- the Flyers have only one first-period goal all season -- Ennis opened the scoring for the Sabres. Ennis, playing on a new line with center Sam Reinhart and right winger Zemgus Girgensons, tallied 2:06 into the second period when he redirected a shot by Girgensons over the shoulder of a screened Neuvirth for his first goal of the season.

The Flyers spent most of the rest of the period taking penalties and watching Moulson make them pay. With Giroux in the box for boarding Girgensons, Moulson muscled his way into the crease and backhanded a shot past Neuvirth for his third goal of the season at 3:56.

Moulson gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead with 4:17 remaining in the period with his fourth power-play goal of the season, this time ripping a shot inside the far post to chase Neuvirth.

NOTES: The Flyers placed Flyers LW Michael Raffl (upper body) on the injured reserve list. ... D Radko Gudas returned to the lineup after serving a six-game suspension for an illegal check on Boston Bruins F Austin Czarnik in a preseason game. He replaced D Nick Schultz, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. "It's part of the business," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "(Schultz) has done an excellent job, but we talked about what's right for our team and (Gudas) gives us some fresh legs coming off a back-to-back." Hakstol said there is nothing more he can say to Gudas, who is a repeat offender and lost $245,121.96 in pay. "All the talk is done," Hakstol said. ... Flyers RW Dale Weise served the final contest of his three-game suspension and will be eligible to play Thursday night. ... Sabres RW Sam Reinhart, who entered the game with two assists in four games, was moved onto a second line, where he centered LW Tyler Ennis and RW Zemgus Girgensons. ... Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen played in his 199th NHL game. ... Sabres backup G Linus Ullmark, recalled from AHL Rochester because of G Robin Lehner's illness, earned his first NHL victory against Philadelphia in 2015. ... The Sabres return home to face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, followed by a home date with the Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Flyers continue their three-game homestand Thursday night against the Arizona Coyotes, followed by a home game against the Penguins on Saturday.