5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Senators

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This is the third meeting between the teams this season and the second in Philadelphia. On Dec. 18 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers captured a 4-3 overtime win on a goal by Travis Sanheim. On March 18 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, the Senators earned a 3-1 win after the game entered the final period tied at 1-1.
The Flyers have lost back-to-back games -- 3-1 in Chicago on Monday and 4-0 in Ottawa on Wednesday -- after winning back-to-back games last week against the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Senators are playing the latter game of a back-to-back set and will be in action for the third time in four nights to close out the season. After a 5-4 home overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the Senators were shut out, 4-0, by the powerhouse Florida Panthers in Ottawa on Thursday.
Here are five things to watch in this game.
1. The Cates-Frost-Tippett Line
First formed in the April 21 game in Montreal. the line combination of Noah Cates, Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett has been a late-season bright spot for the Flyers. Frost scored a give-and-go goal with Cates against the Canadiens. Against Pittsburgh this past Saturday, Cates (2g, 1a) and Frost (1g,1a) enjoyed multi-point games while Tippett had one assist and three other Grade A scoring chances.
The Flyers as a team accounted for only a single goal by Kevin Hayes (on a 2-on-1 rush with Scott Laughton) over the past two games. However, the "Kid Line" continued to generate scoring chances.
Most notably in the Chicago game, during a latter first period power play, Tippett used his speed to generate a clean entry. About five second later, Frost swatted a bouncing puck in the slot on net. He nearly scored and the shot created a rebound at the doorstep that Tippett wasn't able to put home.
In the Winnipeg game, the line generated the most pressure of any of the Flyers combinations.They combined for 15 shot attempts including a combined 9 on goal. Tippett fired five shots on goal. Frost had three on goal (plus one attempt that was blocked and another from the bottom of the left circle that went wide. Cates checked diligently and had one on goal (plus one that was blocked, and three fired wide of the net).
The line also combined for seven bonafide scoring chances: four for Tippett, two for Frost (one that missed the net) and one for Cates.
Tippett's most eye-catching play of the game started with work by Cates and Frost on an offensive zone entry. After receiving the puck on the left side, Tippett wheeled all the way around the attack zone until he found a good shooting lane for himself.
Frost's best chance of the game came off the rush. He eluded a stick checking attempt and fired off a shot on Comrie. The sequence started with a good head-man pass by Cates on the defensive zone exit.
Cates was unable to put a shot on goal until the third period. He then had an opportunity in close after taking a pass from Frost.
Given the quality of the chances they generated in Winnipeg, all three members of the line easily could have had a multi-point game rather than a goose egg. That's especially true of TIppett.
"Tipper played one of the best games you're going to see without scoring a goal," Yeo said, and then added that Frost did a good job of seeing the eyes and making plays to get the puck to Tippett.
2. Milestones in Reach for JVR, TK, Brink
In the meantime, several Flyers players have individual milestones within reach entering the season finale.
James van Riemsdyk is the only Flyers player who has dressed in all 81 games this season and is poised to make it second time in his NHL career that he's appeared in every game of an 82-game season. JVR also dressed in all 56 games of the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign and, while with Toronto, all 48 games of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
With Cam Atkinson (23 goals, 50 points) sidelined, JVR (23 goals, 37 points) needs a goal against Ottawa to finish the 2021-22 season in sole possession of the team's goal-scoring lead. He had 11 goals and 18 points through 45 games at the NHL All-Star Break. A two-goal game for van Riemsdyk would give him the sixth 25-plus goal season of his NHL career.
Travis Konecny leads the Flyers in overall scoring this season with 52 points in 78 games played.His goal-scoring (16) has been down since his NHL All-Star season of 2019-20 but the 25-year-old's 36 assists are one away from tying his single-season career-high set two seasons ago. Two assists in the finale would establish a new career best in a single season. Since the All-Star break, Konecny has posted a team-high 27 points (8g, 19a).
Additionally, entering his 10th NHL game, Bobby Brink (0g, 4a) is looking to notch his first career NHL goal. He came close to it one opportunity in the Winnipeg game on top making a couple of clever and skilled passes.Brink achieved his first NHL assist in his debut game in Washington and had his first multi-point (2a) game in Montreal.
If Ivan Provorov (9g, 29 points) scores a goal in the finale, it will be his third double-digit goal season in the NHL. If he gets either a goal or an assist, it will mark his fourth NHL season with at least 30 points.
Oskar Lindblom would need a monster night -- three points -- that is extremely tough to attain in a single game while in a fourth-line role with little or no power play time. However, it's notable that he's three points away from 100 in his NHL career.
Likewise, it's unlikely that Sanheim will have a four-point game to close out the season. If he does, though, he'll match his single-season scoring high of 35 points, set in 2018-19.
3. Inside the Numbers: Unwanted Franchise Records
Unfortunately, the 2021-22 Flyers are a team that has struggled mightily to finish scoring chances with any regularity. They will go into Friday's season finale averaging 2.57 goals per game, ranked 30th in the NHL. It is tied for the fourth lowest-scoring season in franchise history, with only three early-history seasons (2.29 in 1968-69, 2.34 in the inaugural 1967-68 campaign and 2.56 in 1971-72) being lower.
The NHL only started officially tracking team power play stats in 1977-78. However, Pete Anson hand-compiled team power play and penalty kill stats for every season in team history for the Flyershistory.com website (powered by the Flyers Alumni Association's FlyersAlumni.net website). The Flyers' 11.9 success rate (28-for-236) in 2021-22 unofficially represents the worst power play season in franchise history. The 1967-68 squad went 33-for-269 for a 12.3 percent success rate.
The Flyers exited Wednesday's game with a dismal 87.6 Special Teams Index number (75.8 percent power play plus 11.9 percent penalty kill). That combined special teams number ranks dead last in the 32-team NHL. Individually, the Flyers' penalty kill ranks 26th and the power play is 32nd.
In the 2022 calendar year to date, the Flyers have posted a 12-33-5 record (worst in the NHL). For the season, the Flyers are 5-36-4 in the 45 games in which the opposing team has scored first; 20-9-7 in the 36 games where they've scored first. The Flyers have trailed by two or more goals at some point in 41 of the 81 games played to date and have an 0-40-1 record in such games. Philadelphia is 2-35-4 when trailing after two periods, with both wins coming in games where the team trailed by one goal entering the third period.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Ottawa Senators
Entering the final game of the season, the Senators bring a 17-20-3 road record; they've been a better team away from Ottawa than on home ice (15-22-4).
The third overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Tim Stützle has taken a strong step in his second NHL season. The German forward has produced 22 goals and 57 points on the season to rank second on the team in scoring.
Brady Tkachuk, at age 22, leads the Senators in scoring. He needs one goal to achieve his first 30-goal season in the NHL and, in his fourth pro season, has established a new overall points high with 65 points. Emotional, agitating and sometimes pushing the envelope, Tkachuk has also compiled 117 penalty minutes heading into the season finale.
Another important part of Ottawa's long-term nucleus, 22-year-old Josh Norris, has had a breakthrough season in 2021-22. He's already surpassed the 30-goal mark for the first time and brings 44 points (34 goals, 54 points) into the season finale.
In his first full NHL season, 22-year-old Alex Formenton has posted 18 goals and 31 points.
5. Players to Watch: Flyers Team Awards
Prior to Friday's game the Flyers will present the annual team awards. The honors that will be presented on Friday are as follows.
The results of the voting-based awards (all but the Toyota Cup, in other words) are a closely guarded secret. However, Travis Sanheim appears likely to win his first Barry Ashbee Trophy and the Bobby Clarke Trophy vote most likely came down to one among Cam Atkinson, Carter Hart or Sanheim.