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Wrap: Flyers Skate Past Sens, 3-2

March 11, 2019, 11:18 PM ET [275 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Skate Past Senators, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers did not need a blowout win over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Monday night. Their mission was to get two points, preferably in regulation, and hope for a little help on the out-of-town scoreboard at the end of the night.

Mission accomplished on this night. The Flyers had a lot of early offensive zone puck possession in the first period but no goals -- or shots on goal, for the first nine minutes -- to show for it. They went to the first intermission trailing, 1-0, but feeling OK about how they were playing in general.


"It was very deceiving, the first 10 minutes. We were down 1-0 and shots were 5-0, we missed some great opportunities that didn’t even get a shot on net, had some o-zone possession, some shots that we gave up, maybe with the exception of maybe 1, were all perimeter. ...The biggest thing for me when you do get down 1-0 is making sure that you don’t get the second, because then it becomes a tougher climb. We didn’t try to sell the farm to get one play, we did the right things and we started establishing more momentum and obviously had a great second period," Flyers interim head coach Scott Gordon said.

Philly stepped things up a notch in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals and enjoying a wide disparity in shots (15-5) in their favor to take a 3-1 lead into the third period.

"We kept playing, we had the puck for most of the game and the longer the game went we got more shots on net and more traffic in there. I think we played well, we did what we had to do and it was a good game," Oskar Lindblom said.

Ottawa got a goal back late in the third period but were unable to score an equalizer before spending 1:59 of the final two minutes of the game on a penalty kill. Overall, the Flyers outshot Ottawa by a 36-22 margin with a 65-46 shot attempt edge. In short, it was a workmanlike win in a game the Flyers had to win against the team in the NHL basement.

The Flyers goals came from Lindblom (13th), Michael Raffl (6th) and Scott Laughton (11th). Sean Couturier (37th assist), Shayne Gostisbehere (25th assist), Nolan Patrick (15th assist), Travis Konecny (22nd assist) and Raffl (12th assist) chipped in one helper apiece.

Brian Elliott didn't face a lot of high-quality chances over the course of the game -- the Flyers' own-zone play was pretty good for most of the game-- but came up with some important stops when he needed to. Elliott earned the win with 20 saves on 22 shots.

Ottawa's goals came from Chris Tierney (8th) and Filip Chlapik (1st). Ben Harpur (3rd assist) and Rudolfs Balcers (4th assist) got the apples on the early Tierney goal, and Zack Smith (16th assist) and Thomas Chabot (36th assist) got them on the late Chlapik tally.

The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. They were 0-for-4 on the power play.

The Senators had the game's first four shots and the first scoring chance but Brian Elliott erased a Shayne Gostisbehere turnover with a good save on a pinching Mark Borowiecki. Despite significant edge in early time spent in the attack zone, the Flyers had trouble getting pucks on net. They missed the net on three of their first six shot attempts including a Lindblom shot from the high slot. The other three attempts were blocked.

At 9:48, Ottawa scored first as Tierney deflected home Harpur's point shot.Shots were 5-1 in Ottawa's favor through 10:54. The Flyers started to get some rubber on net as the period progressed, including a scoring chance in the slot for Scott Laughton, and finished the period with a 10-6 shot edge (and 21-17 shot attempt advantage) but a 1-0 deficit on the scoreboard.

The Flyers dominated the second period, to the tune of a 15-5 shot advantage and a 3-0 edge in the cash register. A little self-made puck luck helped the Flyers tie the game at 2:02 of the second period. Gostisbehere's shot from the left circle pinballed into the net on a double deflection off Sean Couturier's knee and then Lindblom's skate.

"I didn’t even see it so it was a lucky one but like I said we have to be in front for every game, got to get some bounces on you and some goals. It was lucky but I’ll take it every day so it’s great," Lindblom said.

Philly made it 2-1 at 6:02. Patrick outworked Borowiecki in puck pursuit and then made a nice feed to Michael Raff at the doorstep. On the backhand, Raffl tipped the puck home past Anderson.

"Great forecheck and I was yelling for the puck, so he had a pretty good idea where I was and he put it absolutely perfect on my tape. It was just a tap -in. They had full control going backwards and Patty [Nolan Patrick] did a heck of a job forechecking that guy so he fumbled the puck a bit. Somehow he found me in the open ice there," Raffl said.

At 19:23 of the second period, Laughton took a nice feed from Konecny off the rush and fired a quick shot home from the left slot for a 3-1 lead. Travis Sanheim made a nice lead pass to Konecny but did not get an assist because Raffl had a brief touch and return pass to Konecny on a mini give-and-go upon entry.

"I think when you’re given the opportunity to go out and do those things it’s huge for our group. A lot of guys have stepped up in the absence of some guys and playing some good hockey. Definitely helps the confidence and just go about our business," Laughton said.

At 1:19 of the third period, the Flyers opened the door a crack for the Sens as Radko Gudas was called for holding. With 23 seconds left in the power play, Filip Chlapik took a careless interference penalty to wash out the rest of the advantage and set up an eventual Flyers power play.

OVerall, the Flyers did a job for much of the period at limiting chances but at 17:03, Chlapik scored from the middle slot to narrow the gap to 3-2. Ottawa pressured after their goal but, with 2:01 left, Zack Smith tripped up James van Riemsdyk to effectively put the Flyers on the power play for the rest of the game.

The Flyers win was paired with a 2-0 regulation loss by the Columbus Blue Jackets at the hands of the New York Islanders on Monday. As a result, the Flyers are four points (three standings points plus a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) out of the playoffs with 13 games left to play. Columbus currently holds onto the lower wildcard in the East over Montreal by virtue of a ROW tiebreaker edge. The Habs return to action on Monday.

On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will hear an in-person appeal of a two-game suspension from Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek. On Monday, Voracek served the first game of the banishment. If Bettman upholds the decision of the league's "Department of Player Safety," Voracek will be unavailable for Thursday's home game against Washington.

The Flyers will hold practice on Tuesday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. They are expected to take the ice around noon. With the two points they needed from the Ottawa game, the team will now move onward to tackle a brutally tough upcoming three-in-four gauntlet that very well could make-or-break their push for the playoffs.

The Flyers host Washington on Thursday, travel immediately to Ontario to take on a more rested Toronto Maple Leafs club the next night. After an off-day on Saturday, Philly concludes their season series with the Penguins on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
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