Flyers hold off Senators, gain in Eastern wild-card race

PHILADELPHIA --The Philadelphia Flyers gained in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Wells Fargo Center on Monday.

Michael Raffl had a goal and an assist, and Brian Elliott made 20 saves for the Flyers (34-27-8), who are 6-1-1 in their past eight games and are three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That's nice to know, but we're focusing on the next game here, taking it a game at a time and see where we end up," Raffl said. "Sounds a little too much if you look at the big picture. ... We're a pretty confident group right now and we're finding ways to win games."
WATCH: [All Senators vs. Flyers highlights]
Chris Tierney and Filip Chlapik scored, and Craig Anderson made 33 saves for the Senators (23-41-6), who have lost four straight (0-3-1) and 11 of their past 12 games (1-10-1). Ottawa has been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
"We're doing the best we can to make it exciting," Senators forward Zack Smith said. "We're a young group here. Our main goal is get better every night. I think we're doing that, we're making strides."

Ottawa held Philadelphia without a shot for the first nine minutes of the game before taking a 1-0 lead when Tierney redirected Ben Harpur's point shot at 9:48.
Oskar Lindblom tied it 1-1 at 2:02 of the second period after Shayne Gostisbehere's shot from the top of the left circle redirected off Sean Couturier's knee and Lindblom's skate into the net.
Raffl, who was playing in his 400th NHL game, made it 2-1 when he tipped Nolan Patrick's backhand centering pass over Anderson's left pad at 6:02.
"They took over," Smith said. "Everyone could see that. I think we were content with our first period and they came out and stole the show. They dictated the pace of play and were holding onto pucks. On our side, we were giving away way too many pucks."

Scott Laughton scored with 37 seconds left in the second period from the high slot to extend the lead to 3-1. He has five points (three goals, two assists) during an NHL career-high five-game point streak.
"We said it from the beginning to be ready, and they kind of jumped on us and then we kind of found our feet," Laughton said. "We did a really good job in the second period with sustained pressure in the zone and our [defensemen] were moving pretty well, cycling around the zone. I thought we did a good job in the later part of the game."
Chlapik, who was recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League earlier Monday and arrived about two hours before puck drop, scored his first goal of the season to cut it to 3-2 at 17:03 of the third period. He replaced Colin White, who was out with an upper-body injury.
The Flyers played without forward Jakub Voracek, who is third on Philadelphia with 61 points (18 goals, 43 assists) and was serving the first of a two-game suspension for interference against the New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk on Sunday.

"Your whole team can't be comprised of goal-scoring and skill," Flyers coach Scott Gordon said. "You have to have different elements on your lines. ... You look at [Laughton and Raffl], they play some heavy minutes, they can grind it out in the offensive zone and make it hard for the opposition, and that can change momentum so the next line has an easier time because the previous line for the opponents couldn't get off the ice. Those guys are invaluable. They're just as important as the guys that are putting up the big points."

They said it

"They're battling for a playoff spot and they played hard the entire night. For us, we're all just battling for jobs at this point and just trying to play as hard as we can for each other. It's a tough season, so we're just trying to show up every night and make it a game." -- Senators defenseman Cody Ceci
"You remember your first game. I came in here with the attitude, signing a two-way contract, try to get one game in and be proud of that. Here I am 400 games later, it's kind of cool." -- Flyers forward Michael Raffl

Need to know

Senators coach Marc Crawford did not have an update on White after the game. ... Couturier has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Flyers forward Claude Giroux had his seven-game point streak end. … Laughton's goal was his 11th this season, an NHL career high.

What's next:

Senators: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSP, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)