POSTGAME 5: Special Teams Costly in 4-1 Loss to Sens

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers scored first and had a large lead in shots on goal. Ultimately, the game got away from Philadelphia.

Philadelphia largely controlled the first period but the game went to intermission tied at 1-1. A rebound goal by Kevin Hayes (3rd) at 6:05 was answered by a transition rush goal by Thomas Chabot (3rd) at 14:28. A second period power play goal by Alex Debrincat (3rd) at 19:11 put the Sens ahead 2-1. DeBrincat struck again on the power play at 6:52 of the third period made it 3-1. Tim Stutzle (5th) added on an empty-net goal at 16;06.
Longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux received a standing ovation before the start of the game. Giroux went on to collect a pair of assists in the game.
Carter Hart (23 saves on 26 shots on goal) took the loss. Cam Talbot (37 saves on 38 shots) earned the win.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Senators went 2-for-3.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
49 Noah Cates - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 17 Zack MacEwen
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 48 Morgan Frost - 58 Tanner Laczynski
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
Special teams were the Flyers' undoing on this day. The first of DeBrincat's two power play markers was deflating and the latter put Ottawa in control.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1. The Flyers registered six of the game's first eight shots and seven of the first 10. DeAngelo set up a chance for Laughton on the game's opening shift.
Philly grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6:05. The Hayes line attacked the net with Farabee passing to Konecny. Talbot made the initial save but Hayes knocked the loose rebound home.
At 7:06, Shane Pinto had a scoring opportunity from the left faceoff dot. Hart snapped it up with his glove.
Travis Konecny dropped the gloves with Jacob Bernard-Docker in the neutral zone at 11;06. Konecny landed an early punch that sent Bernard-Docker down to the ice.
Wade Allison suffered an apparent left hand injury, leaving his glove on the ice as he skated off the ice and up the tunnel with 7:25 remaining in the first period. He later returned for the start of the second period.
At 13:52, after exchanging chirps, DeAngelo dropped the gloves with Mark Kastelic. The Sen got the better of the bout, but DeAngelo hung in. It appeared that DeAngelo had taken exception to a hit by Kastelic.
The Senators tied the game at 1-1 at the 14:28 mark. An attack by the Hayes line was broken up in the Ottawa zone and the Senators countered in transition with Rasmus Ristolainen trapped all the way up ice. With Zack MacEwen trying in vain to get back to help out on Ristolainen's side, Chabot joined the attack and scored. The assists went to Giroux and Tim Stutzle.
The Flyers received the game's first power play at 15:39 of the first period. Giroux was nabbed on an offensive zone slash. The Flyers power play was unable to capitalize. The Flyers had one shot on goal among three attempts. A Tippett look from the top of the left circle was blocked.
2. First period shots on goal were 17-9 Flyers (shot attempts were 24-17 Flyers). Scoring chances were 12-6 Flyers with a 5-3 high-danger edge to Philly). The Flyers won 16 of 23 faceoffs in the frame with Hayes going 5-for-7. The Flyers were credited with 25 hits in the period to 15 credited for Ottawa.MacEwen had five credited hits while Deslauriers had four.
3. Travis Sanheim had a prime scoring chance in the opening two minutes of the middle frame.Unfortunately, the shot attempt went over the net. Ottawa had the majority of puck possession over the next five or so minutes but the Flyers eventually came to reclaim a puck possession edge.
Tippett had a semi-breakaway and was hooked by Bernard-Docker. Talbot made the save before the stoppage at 4:16. The Flyers came away empty, getting booed by the home crowd on a couple of failed entries and easy clears by Ottawa. Philly got their third power play of the game at 9:02 when Joseph was called for tripping at the Flyers' blueline. This man advantage went better including a chance at the doorstep for Konecny threaded to him by Morgan Frost.
At 15:20, Allison needed assistance to leave the ice after a play on the end boards in the Ottawa zone. It appeared to be the player's knee or foot.
Ottawa got their first power play of the game at 18:16 of the second period. Ottawa cashed in to take a 2-1 lead on a tic-tac-toe back door goal finished off by DeBrincat. The assists went to Tkachuk and Stuzle.
A tripping penalty at the offensive blueline by Farabee at 19:37 gave Ottawa 1:33 of carryover power play time into the third period.
4. Through two periods, shots on goal were 30-17 in the Flyers' favor. Shots on goal in the period were 13-8 Flyers and attempts were 17-17. Through two periods, the Flyers were credited with 46 hits, led by seven apiece credited to MacEwen and Allison.
5, Konecny had a hit on Chabot behind the Ottawa net at 0:26 of the third period. Chabot was slow to get up. The Flyers killed the remaining penalty time.
Laughton was called for slashing at 5:10. Hart made a great save moving across to deny Batherson. But Ottawa scored at 7:52 to build a 3-1 lead. DeBrincat scored from the slot on a pass that went off the end boards out to him on the other side. The assists went to ex-Flyers Derick Brassard and Giroux.
The Laughton line generated an extended offensive zone possession in the Ottawa end but were unable to get any high-end chances. With 6:20 on the clock, Hayes was denied from center slot.
The Flyers pulled Hart for an extra attacker with 4:15 left in the third period. Stutlze fended off a desperate Ristolainen to score a empty-net goal. Tkachuk got the assist.