The Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-game winning streak was snapped but they maintained their point streak, which has now reached 7 games after an overtime defeat to the Ottawa Senators, 5-4.
Ottawa outshot the Flyers 46-11 but the Flyers remained resilient all game and managed to fight back in the third period to send the game to overtime. Austin Watson opened the scoring midway through the first period before Tony DeAngelo tied things up early in the second period on the power play. Ottawa then added 2 more goals before the end of the period from Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto, but the period was a feisty one with a few fights, including Nicolas Deslauriers essentially fighting 2 guys.
Claude Giroux then gave the Senators a 4-1 lead early in the third period but the Flyers clawed their way back with goals from Cam York, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett. Alex DeBrincat scored the game winning goal after Felix Sandström misplayed the puck behind the net as the Flyers dropped their 12th defeat in the 3-on-3 skills competition. Sandström made 41 saves, the Flyers power play was 2/2, but their offensive play was questionable for most of the game.
Riding high on a 4-game winning streak and a 5-game point-streak, the Philadelphia Flyers embarked on a road trip north of the border for the final time in Ottawa. After finishing off the homestand in style, the Flyers looked to continue their winning ways with the same lineup with the sole exception of Tanner Laczynski making way for Justin Braun as they went back to the 12/6 formation.
Felix Sandström made his second consecutive start with Carter Hart on the mend and not traveling with the team. Samuel Ersson, called up on an emergency basis, was the backup once more. An important note for this game was John Tortorella sitting in the press box next to Daniel Brière instead of his usual spot behind the bench.
As for the Ottawa Senators, they entered tonight’s game having lost a lot of ground on the Wild Card race that was once in grasp. They still have a minute chance of clinching a playoff spot but they had gone 3-6-1 in their previous 10 games and were 5 points out of the playoffs with 8 games in hand entering tonight. Cam Talbot made way for his first start since March 4th.
FIRST PERIOD
After James van Riemsdyk hit the post on a breakaway, Brendan Lemieux took an ill-advised boarding penalty shortly after, 2:10 into the game. The Senators had their moments but the much-improved Flyers penalty kill, as of late, killed their 11th successive power play.
With 9:02 remaining in the first period, the Senators scored the game’s opening goal after Austin Watson finished off a rebound opportunity in a mass of mayhem. Travis Hamonic fired a shot from the corner before taking a hard fall, the shot hit a Flyer defender in front but the puck landed right onto the tape of Watson, who made no mistake with Sandström already down and out for his 9th of the season.
The Flyers were flat right from the onset – primarily from the Lemieux penalty – as the Senators were controlling the pace of the game, evidenced by a 12-2 shot advantage with 6 minutes still left to play.
Claude Giroux ended the period with 2 great scoring chances, one off an alley-oop that Ivan Provorov couldn’t handle, to which Giroux stick-tapped a few times before hitting Sandström’s mask. Then he had a one-time opportunity that just missed with the period winding down.
The Flyers finished the period without a shot in the final 13 minutes, while Ottawa outshot the Flyers 17-2.
SECOND PERIOD
1:32 into the 2nd period, the Flyers were handed a power play after Shane Pinto was called for a tripping minor. With 41 seconds left on the man advantage and 17:09 left in the period, Tony DeAngelo’s point shot – with James van Riemsdyk setting a slight screen – beat Cam Talbot glove-side on the Flyers’ 3rd shot of the game and first in 16 minutes.
The Senators didn’t let up even with the Flyers tying things up and Tim Stützle re-took the lead after the Flyers failed to gain possession of the puck and get it out of the zone.
The Senators cycled the puck around the zone and outmuscled the Flyers at every corner before finally getting the puck to Nick Holden at the point. Holden took a point shot with traffic in front that was eventually deflected with a mass of bodies in front. Brady Tkachuk’s deflection hit the post but Stützle finished off the rebound for his 37th of the season, 7:43 into the period.
On the next shift, Joel Farabee dropped the gloves with Alex DeBrincat, looking for a spark with the Senators up 2-1 and 20-4 on the shot chart. DeBrincat took care of Farabee handedly in a bout of between 2 scrappy goal-scorers.
57 seconds later, Nicolas Deslauriers then dropped the gloves with Austin Watson – retaliatory after the hit that Watson delivered on Cam York. In a very spirited bout with the advantage going to the Deslauriers.
With Deslauriers headed towards the bench, Mark Kastelic engaged with the Flyers enforcer and they got into it as well.
Deslauriers was handed 20 PIM, Kastelic 15, and Watson 5.
With 7:26 left in the period, the Flyers were called for a too many men minor. After killing off their second penalty of the game, Ivan Provorov was guilty of a tripping minor with 4:59 left. The chances were ripe for taking but Ottawa failed to connect on several dangerous slot opportunities.
However, with 11 seconds left on the Provorov minor, the Senators finally chipped in with their third goal of the game with another chaotic sequence in front of Sandström.
Claude Giroux’s one-timer was stopped, Sandström was moved out of his crease with the rebound, and the puck bounced back into the slot with the goaltender out of position before Shane Pinto batted a Mathieu Joseph flubbed shot out of thin air and in for his 20th of the season at the 16:50 mark.
Unfortunately right after Giroux’s blast, Derick Brassard got tangled with Rasmus Ristolainen and landed very awkwardly on his ankle and had to be helped off with a serious injury.
The Flyers were with another absent period as they were outshot 10-3 in the middle frame and 27-5 after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
As fate would have it, Claude Giroux recorded another point, his 29th goal of the season after being set up on a perfect stretch pass before wristing a hard shot over the glove of Sandström at the 2:28 mark of the third period.
Tyler Kleven recorded his first point in his first career NHL game with that stretch pass. The goal represented Giroux’s 2nd against the Flyers this season and his 5th point.
Poetic justice with the Senators broadcast mocking the Flyers being heavily outshot this game – rightfully so – Cam York ripped one glove-high over Talbot for his 2nd of the season on their 7th shot of the game at the 5:22 mark.
Morgan Frost tried cycling from behind the net to the slot area but was bombarded by 2 black jerseys before the puck got tipped to a streaking York who made absolutely no mistake with a lethal shot.
The Flyers received a power play with 10:17 left on the clock after Watson was called for an offensive zone interference minor. It only took the Flyers 11 seconds to strike after Noah Cates deflected a Ristolainen slap-shot for his 12th of the season. They actually won the offensive zone faceoff and quickly set up with DeAngelo and Ristolainen at the point, before the latter ripped a one-timer that hit Cates and looped over Talbot for their 3rd goal on 9 shots.
With 9:02 remaining, Giroux was sprung on a breakaway but his backhander went just high and wide. Then shortly after that, Drake Batherson came barreling in on Sandström on a 2-on-0 with Alex DeBrincat on his side, but he chose to go in with a shot that was blockered aside by Sandström.
With 2:39 left in regulation and on their 11th shot of the night, Owen Tippett – The Red Rifle – tied the game after being set up by Travis Sanheim, all alone in the slot with a yawning open cage for his 23rd of the season.
The Flyers won the board battle behind the net, Kieffer Bellows then jumped on the loose puck, passed it to Sanheim at the faceoff dot who baited Talbot enough to come out of his crease, before finding Tippett all alone.
The Flyers fought back, especially after what looked to be a dagger from Claude Giroux that made it 4-1. The Senators outshot the Flyers 17-6 in the third and 44-11 after 60, but much to the chagrin of Mike Johnson and the Senators broadcast, their 44 shots matched up to the Flyers’ 11 in terms of goals scored.
OVERTIME
After Ristolainen smashed a shot off the post, the Senators went down the ice and took the game after Alex DeBrincat and the Senators jumped on a costly turnover from Felix Sandström misplaying the puck around the net.
He passed it behind himself blindly to DeBrincat who skated around and fired it into the empty net for his 25th of the season to end the Flyers’ 4-game winning streak.
UP NEXT
The Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night (7:00pm ET, NBCSP) in the first leg of a back-to-back set.
