Senators defeat Flyers for fourth win in five games

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators killed a double minor late in the third period to hang on for a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.

"It's been the best part of our game probably all year, to be honest," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said of the penalty kill. "Those four Dylan DeMelo, Ron Hainsey, defensemen]*
"The Flyers came out with a really good start and pushed us back the first few minutes there," Nilsson said. "We got down a goal, but since then, I thought we took over the game and we started to work harder and skate more and play more physical, and we took over the game because of it."

Tyler Pitlick scored, and Carter Hart made 17 saves for Philadelphia (10-6-3), which lost in regulation for the first time in eight games (5-1-2).
"[The Senators] kept skating. They kind of spread the ice, and they were attacking with a lot of speed," Flyers forward Jakub Voracek said. "We were a little bit slow, and we came up short."
Pitlick scored his first goal with the Flyers to give them a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period. He beat Nilsson with a high wrist shot from the right face-off dot.
"We came ready to play. Our first period was good," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "Our inability to score the second goal, when we had a couple of good looks, and their ability in the second period to win some 1-on-1 battles and to make some plays. They made a lot more plays than we did in that second period."
Ennis beat Hart five-hole with a snap shot on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 13:12 of the second, and Chlapik scored with a snap shot from the slot to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 17:09.
Senators forward Colin White was given a double minor for high-sticking Claude Giroux with 4:17 remaining in the third. Nilsson made three saves during Philadelphia's four-minute power play and another on Oskar Lindblom with 13 seconds left.
"In the end, we had a lot of good looks, we just didn't connect," Voracek said. "Obviously, if you don't score, it doesn't matter how good you move the puck, and if you move the puck badly and you don't score, you don't score. Especially in a 2-1 game with a four-minute power play, you should be able to find a way."

They said it

"Our execution was a little bit off. At the end, the power play's got an opportunity to tie us the game. A lot of possession time in that four minutes, but no real good look, that I would say. Our execution was a little bit off. Unfortunate, but we don't have a lot of time to worry about it. We've got to play tomorrow night." -- Flyers coach Alain Vigneault
"That was maybe our worst start of the year, the first three shifts. Just weren't ready, I guess. Or maybe they were ready; one of the two. But after that first five minutes, I thought we were really competitive and we played hard." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith
"My job is to stop the puck no matter if it's the first minute of the game or the last four minutes or if we're on the [penalty kill] or whatever it is. My mindset was just trying to stop the puck, and I felt pretty comfortable with the penalty kill because I think they had an outstanding game." -- Senators goalie Anders Nilsson on killing a four-minute penalty late in the third

Need to know

The Flyers were 0-for-5 on the power play. ... Nilsson is 5-4-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.

What's next

Flyers: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)
Senators: At the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS2, MSG-B, NHL.TV)