The Philadelphia Flyers (3-3-1) saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end in a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators (3-4-1).
Things started off very well for the Flyers, who opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the contest, but that was all they could muster for the rest of the game as the Senators found a way to silence their offense.
Michael Amadio and Olle Lycksell found the back of the net midway through the first period and at the beginning of the second, respectively. However, the score should have been a lot more lopsided had it not been for the heroics in goal from Dan Vladař. The free agent signing made 31 saves compared to his counterpart in Linus Ullmark who made 21.
FIRST PERIOD
It took the Flyers only 29 seconds to get on the board after Tyson Foerster wired a shot from the point past Ullmark after a well orchestrated dump-in.
Sean Couturier was the first to the puck after he deftly tapped it back to Travis Konecny, who then found Foerster all alone at the point, before his shot beat Ullmark high-blocker.
The Senators tied the game up at the 7:57 mark after Amadio was allowed to walk in all alone on Vladař. The Senators patiently played with the puck in the neutral zone before Claude Giroux found Amadio alone on the opposite wing, as he wired his first of the year.
Momentum shifted towards the Senators shortly thereafter and for their hard work they earned two power plays, both from Flyers mistakes in the offensive zone from Bobby Brink and then Matvei Michkov. Vladař was up to the task and kept the Senators at bay as they outshot the Flyers 12-4 at one point.
After two kills, the Flyers looked to have their skating legs going near the end of the period and they almost made it 2-1 after Owen Tippett made a strong move to the net that caused a scene in the crease. Players were whacking away and the puck was loose, but somehow it stayed out.
The game was tied heading into the intermission with the Senators outshooting the Flyers 13-9.
SECOND PERIOD
After Giroux played the role of playmaker on the first goal of the night, fellow former Flyer Lycksell joined in on the fun and potted his first of the season. After Nick Jensen’s shot was blocked by Rodrigo Ābols, Lars Eller sent a backhanded, no-look pass to Lycksell at the side of the net for his first as a Senator at the 3:05 mark.
The game returned back to status quo with both teams sharing chances but ultimately it favoured the home side, who took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. The Flyers did get a power play near the end of the period, drawn by Trevor Zegras, but outside of a chance from Michkov, it was a pretty quiet effort.
THIRD PERIOD
The third period was a completely different story as the Senators came out firing and should have scored 2 or 3 goals had it not been for Vladař. Ottawa did have 2 early power plays but the Flyers looked slow, lost, and out of shape for the first half of the period as the shot clock read 10-2 in favour of the home side.
The Flyers found a new gear in the latter half of the third but it was too little, too late, as the Senators were able to hold on. Vladař was pulled for the extra attacker with a little over 2 minutes remaining, and although they had offensive zone pressure, the passes weren’t crisp, they were kept to one side of the ice, and the few chances they did have were blocked by defenders.
The shots favoured the Senators 33 to 22 and they also had a 5-3 edge in power plays, but both goaltenders were up to the task, especially in the latter 36:55 of the game where no goals were scored.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will host the New York Islanders on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 12:30pm/ET.
