Postgame RAV4:  Flyers Push Back for Point vs. Sens

The Philadelphia Flyers lost in overtime to the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday afternoon. Philadelphia trailed 2-0 after the first period but took over the game for the rest of regulation before making a costly miscue in overtime.

Tim Stutzle scored twice for Ottawa including the sudden death winner.

Saturday's game marked the fifth time this season -- three wins, two regulation ties -- Philly has come back to gain at least one point when trailing after two periods.

Early first period goals by Stutzle (7th goal of the season) and Michael Amadio (5th) built a 2-0 lead for Ottawa. Matvei Michkov (3rd) narrowed the gap in the second period. Jamie Drysdale (2nd) tied the game in the third period before Stutzle netted the winner in overtime.

Samuel Ersson made 10 saves on 13 shots. Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of 22 shots on net.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

First period synopsis

Carl Grundstrom blocked a shot on his first shift as a Flyer. Samuel Ersson made the game's first two (routine) saves.

Stutzle buried a one-timer from the right circle off a David Perron feed for a 1-0 lead at 5:14. The assists went to Perron and Ridley Greig. The sequence started with Ottawa winning a puck battle.

Ottawa made it 2-0 at 6:18. The Flyers were caught a bit-flat footed and slow to read the play. Claude Giroux fed Michael Amadio for the goal. The secondary assist went to Shane Pinto. Ottaa had goals on back-to-back shots.

At 9:59, Travis Konecny intercepted a soft pass over the middle in the attack zone. He snapped off a fast shot that Ullmark stopped.

The Flyers got the game's first power play at 12:07. Artem Zub slashed the stick out of Trevor Zegras' hands. Brink shanked a one-timer attempt from the mid-center slot.

Emit Andrae was called for a blatant interference penalty behind the Flyers' net.

The game started to get chippy. Tyler Kleven got away with a cross-check to Owen Tippett's back. Zegras slashed Greig.

Shots: Flyers 4 - Senators 6

Faceoffs: Flyers 8 - Senators 6

Notable:

• The Flyers were simply not sharp for much of the first period, with or without the puck. The decided majority of the period was spent in the Flyers' defensive zone. Additionally, the Flyers quickly found themselves chasing the game on the scoreboard.
• Philadelphia escaped a dangerous turnover by Emil Andrae late in the period. Earlier, Andrae took the interference minor. It was also a rough period for the Jamie Drysdale pairing with Nick Seeler.
• The Flyers blocked six Ottawa shot attempts in the period.

Second period synopsis

Ottawa generated a pair of shots almost off the hop to start the period.

Nikita Grebenkin got to the net and started a scramble around the net -- something that was rare for the Flyers in the first 20-plus minutes. The shift sparked Philly's first muti-shift momentum burst.

Konecny came out of the right corner and took the puck to the net. The Flyers went to the power play at 7:41 after former Flyer Nick Cousins slashed Bobby Brink. The Flyers generated a lot of good puck movement but not a goal.

Four-or-four play ensued at 9:03 when Greig (interference) and Konecny (roughing) went off coincidental minors.

Michkov worked his way from the perimeter to the slot. Using a Christian Dvorak screen to his advantage, the Russian winger fended off Jake Sanderson and then fired a shot past Ullmark. The Flyers narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 11:23. The assists went to Dvorak and Konecny.

Noah Juulsen nearly scored his first goal as a Flyer on a shot that looked like it might bounce into the net. Moments earlier, Juulsen threw a solid body check.

There was a big scrim at 14:14. Dylan Cozens hit Juulsen from behind dangerously close to the benches. Juulsen, initially slow to get up, went after Cozens and was ready to fight. The calls: two for boarding on Cozens, two for roughing on Juulsen.

During the 4-on-4, Noah Cates pounced on a Nick Jensen turnover. Ullmark stopped Cates on what turned into a fairly routine save

Shots: Flyers 10 (14 overall) - Senators 5 (11 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 6 (14 overall) - Senators 11 (17 overall)

Notable:

• The shift in which Grebenkin got to the net started a scrum that seemed to wake up the Flyers from their generally drowsy start to the game.
• Through two periods, Travis Sanheim led the Flyers with 15:46 of ice time.
• Zegras made several excellent setup passes in the period. He'd have liked to have gotten more on his power play one-timer attempt, however.

Third period synopsis

Michkov went off for tripping at 2:07. The Flyers killed it off in good shape. With play back at 5-on-5, Fabian Zetterlund very nearly had a goal but the puck went off the post to Ersson's left.

Juulsen threw another big hit, this time in the neutral zone. Through 6:09, third period shots were 4-0 Flyers. The Flyers generated several strong shifts as the period neared the midway point.

Philly won an offensive zone draw cleanly. Shortly thereafter, Drysdale pinched down and got rewarded, as the Flyers tied the game at 9:55. Zegras measured a wrist shot from up high. Dvorak set up shop in front and the puck rebounded to Drysdale at the bottom of the circle to Ullmark's right. Drysdale made no mistake. The assists went to Dvorak and Zegras.

The Senators remained without a shot on goal since 17:17 of the second period. Through a TV timeout at 14:02, shots in the third period were 6-0 Flyers,

A Michkov turnover finally produced Ottawa's first shot of the period. Ersson denied Dylan Cousins at 18:34.

Shots: Flyers 8 (22 overall) - Senators 1 (12 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 14 (28 overall) - Senators 11 (22 overall)

Notable:

• A dominant third period by the Flyers. Even before the Drysdale goal, Ottawa seemed to be hanging by a thread.

Overtime Summary

The Flyers lost a promising looking rush to an a late offside whistle at 2:00.

Zegras was indecisive on a potential line change, resulting in the Flyers getting outnumbered. Stutzle scored to end the game at 3:19 of overtime. The assists went to Batherson and Chabot.

Shots: Flyers 0 (22 overall) - Senators 1 (13 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 2 (30 overall) - Senators 1 (23 overall)

Flyers Starting Lineup

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak –Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin - Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae – Noah Juulsen

Samuel Ersson
[Dan Vladar]

Postgame Rav4 (Rav4 Things Revisited)

1. Between the pipes

Ersson didn't see a lot of shots. However, he hung in after yielding two early goals and made a few important stops as the team battled to come back.

2. TK heating up

Travis Konecny brought a six-game point streak into Saturday's match. He made it seven in a row with his assist on Michkov's goal.

3. Puck possession and chance creation

This was a tale of two games. The Flyers spent too much time defending and generated little of significance at the other end in the first period. For the rest of regulation, however, the Flyers shut down the Senators and generated numerous quality chances in the offensive zone. The Michkov and Drysdale goals were both very well-executed all the way around.

4. Giroux vs Flyers

The longtime Flyers captain is a near lock to generate at least one point when he plays against Philly. Just as he did the last time Senators opposed Philly, Giroux nicely set up Amadio for a goal.