5 Things: Flyers @ Senators

Concluding a three-game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (5-3-2) are in Canada's capital city on Saturday evening to take on D.J. Smith's (4-6-0). Game time at the Canadian Tire Centre is 7:00 p.m. EDT.

GAME NOTES

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the teams. The Flyers and Senators will rematch on Nov. 12 at the Wells Fargo Center before the season series concludes back in Ottawa on March 30.
Here are 5 storylines to follow for the game:
1. Giroux on the opposition.
It may be a little more emotional next Saturday when the Senators come to Philadelphia, but this match marks the first time in his career that Claude Giroux will be on the opposing side in a Flyers game.
So far this season, the longtime Flyers captain and a franchise icon of the 2010s to early 2020s has posted nine points (five goals, four assists) through his first 10 games with Ottawa. The next goal Giroux scores will be the 300th of his regular season NHL career. He now serves as an alternate captain for Ottawa.
Giroux spent exactly 1,000 regular season games as a Flyer (291 goals, 609 assists, 900 points), plus 95 playoff games (28 goals, 53 assists, 81 points). In Flyers franchise history, he ranks second in games played, second in points, second in assists, first in power play points (339). first in power play assists (255), eighth in power play goals (84), 14th in points-per-game (minimum 100 GP as a Flyer), 3rd in faceoff winning percentage since 1997-98 (55.8%),
On March 19, 2022, the Flyers traded Giroux -- an impending unrestricted free agent at the time -- to the Florida Panthers. The deal sent Owen Tippett and a 2024 first-round pick to Philadelphia. Giroux played 18 regular season games (3g, 20a, 23 points) and 10 playoff games (3g, 5a, 8 points) with Florida. On July 13, he signed with the Senators as an unrestricted free agent.
TIppett is off to a solid start this season after returning from a suspected concussion suffered in the first period on opening night. In four games since his return, he has posted three points (two power play goals, one assist).In 21 games as a Flyer last season following the trade from Florida,Tippett posted seven points (4g, 3a).
2. Hart vs. Talbot
Flyers goaltender Carter Hart is off to an outstanding start this season. In seven starts to date, he's gone 5-0-2 with a 2.10 goals against average and .943 save percentage. On Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, Hart carried a shutout through regulation but could not get any goal support. The Flyers lost in overtime, 1-0, with Hart stopping 35 of 36 shots overall.
Felix Sandström (0-3-0, 3.78 GAA, .894 SV%) got the start the next night in Toronto. The Flyers lost, 4-2. Hart will return to the net in Ottawa.
Off the ice, Hart is good friends with fellow netminder Cam Talbot. In the past, they've trained together and Talbot was a mentor of sorts to Hart when the latter was in the early stages of his career. Talbot and Hart, briefly, were later teammates with the Flyers during the 2018-19 season.
Talbot is in his first season with the Senators following an offseason trade from the Minnesota Wild. He sustained a rib injury in training camp and started the 2022-23 campaign on IR. Talbot made his first appearance as a Senator on Nov. 3.
With the host Sens trailing the Vegas Golden Knights midway through regulation by a 5-1 score, Talbot played the rest of the game. Talbot stopped all 13 shots he faced in 27:59 of action. Two goals apiece by Giroux and Tim Stützle cut the deficit to one goal but the Senators were unable to find an equalizer.
Talbot is slated to get the start against the Flyers on Saturday.
3. Both teams aim to end winless streaks
The Flyers are winless in their three games (0-1-2). After Hart authored a scintillating 48-save performance in the Flyers' upset home win over the Florida Panthers, the Flyers had a 5-2-0 record on the season.
Since that time, Philly was unable to close out a third period lead against Carolina and went down to a 4-3 overtime loss. That was followed by the 1-0 OT loss in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday night's 5-2 defeat in Toronto.
The Senators, who are 4-2-0 on home ice to date but winless on the road at 0-4-0, have dropped four straight games in regulation. The club has dropped consecutive decisions to the Minnesota Wild (4-2, home), Panthers (5-3, road), Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3, road) and the aforementioned Golden Knights.
The Senators' last win came at the expense of the visiting Dallas Stars, 4-2, on Oct. 24. At the time, it gave the Senators a four-game winning streak.
4. Flyers Line Play
Last game in Toronto, Morgan Frost and Justin Braun were healthy scratches. Tanner Laczynski returned to the lineup, playing somewhat sparingly (10:41 TOI) as the third/fourth line center. Egor Zamula returned to the starting defense rotation in place of Braun. There were also several in-game line combination switches in Wednesday's game.
The Flyers held practice in Toronto on Friday morning and then caught a short flight to Ottawa. There will not be a morning skate in Ottawa but Tortorella will speak before the game, at which time the lineup choices for this game will be confirmed.
Based upon Wednesday's starting line combinations -- and subject to change -- the Flyers' lineup in Ottawa could look like this:
86 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
49 Noah Cates - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
20 KIeffer Bellows - 58 Tanner Laczynski or 48 Morgan Frost - 17 Zack MacEwen
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 57 Wade Allison
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 54 Egor Zamula or 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk is off to a tremendous start to the 2022-23 season. The agitating and large-framed (6-foot-4, 221 pounds) power forward leads the Senators with six goals, nine assists and 15 points through the first 10 games of the season.
Drake Batherson already has 11 points (3g, 8a). In the meantime, 20-year-old German forward Tim Stützle has posted eight points (3g, 5a) through the season's first 10 games. Newcomer Alex DeBrincat (2g, 7a) and Giroux have nine points apiece. Young center Shane Pinto, who will turn 22 next Saturday, has racked up six goals among his seven points.
Thirty-five-year-old veteran forward Derick Brassard, who spent most of last season with the Flyers before finishing the 2021-22 campaign with the Edmonton Oilers, is expected to center Ottawa's third line for this game. Brassard has dressed in four games this season, notching one goal.
Projected lineup (subject to change)
7 Brady Tkachuk - 18 Tim Stützle - 28 Claude Giroux
12 Alex DeBrincat - 57 Shane Pinto - 19 Drake Batherson
14 Tyler Motte - 61 Derick Brassard - 21 Mathieu Joseph
45 Parker Kelly - 47 Mark Kastelic - 16 Austin Watson
72 Thomas Chabot - 26 Erik Brännström
85 Jake Sanderson - 23 Travis Hamonic
5 Nick Holden - 22 Nikita Zaitsev
33 Cam Talbot
[ 31 Anton Forsberg]
Extras: 27 Dylan Gambrell, 24 Jacob Bernard-Docker. 39 Magnus Hellberg