Ottawa struck again with 5.1 seconds left in the second period, Claude Giroux took Travis Sanheim off the puck and fed Brady Tkachuk in the high slot. A bang-bang tally later, it was 4-2 Ottawa.
Ottawa built a 5-2 lead with a power play goal at 1:31 of the third period. Tkachuk scored again, this time on a rebound. Giroux and Stutzle assisted. Earlier, Tkachuk pitchforked Staal's stick into the corner and the Flyers defenseman never got reoriented .
Carter Hart absorbed the loss, with 26 saves on 31 shots. Anton Forsberg earned the win for Ottawa, making 19 saves on 21 shots.
The Flyers made two changes from the opening night lineup. Emil Andrae made his NHL debut for Philly, replacing Egor Zamula. Tyson Foerster slotted in and Bobby Brink was scratched.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 71 Tyson Foerster
21 Scott Laughton - 27 Noah Cates- 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
44 Nic Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
18 Marc Staal - 26 Sean Walker
36 Emil Andrae - 24 Nick Seeler
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
PP1: Foerster, Atkinson, Couturier, Konecny, York
PP2: Farabee, Tippett, Frost, Cates, Andrae
TURNING POINT
The Flyers spent most of the afternoon chasing the game but the Tkachuk goal in the waning seconds of the second period, which turned a one-goal deficit into two, put the Flyers into dire straits heading into the third period.
POSTGAME 5
1. In the opening minute of the game, Travis Sanheim made a nice play to rush the puck up the ice. No scoring chance resulted. Two shifts later, in his first NHL shift, Andrae fired the game's first shot on net. With the Flyers trailing 1-0, Farabee had Philadelphia's first scoring chance after a Senators turnover.
The Senators went on the game's first power play at the 9:00 mark when Couturier was called for a marginal boarding minor as he moved in against Chychrun on the forecheck. Ottawa turned the power play into Ottawa's second goal.
Ottawa went right back to the power play at 11:14. Seeler was called for tripping Parker Kelly behind the Philadelphia net. The Flyers killed it off successfully. At 15:16, Philly went on it's first power play when Drake Batherson was whistled off for hooking York. The Flyers got a 1:41 length 5-on-3 when Giroux was sent off for grabbing York's stick. Philly turned it into a Konecny goal.
2. First period shots on goal were 12-5 in Ottawa's favor. Shot attempts were even at 17-17. Ottawa blocked seven Flyers' shot attempts to two blocks by Philly. Credited hits were 6-5 Flyers. Faceoffs were 14-7 Senators (Frost was only 1-for-6).Scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick were 5-4 Senators (3-1 high-danger chance edge to Ottawa).
3. The Flyers were unable to do much with their 4-on-3 power play. They did not generate any shot attempts. With play back to 5-on-5, Hart made a tough save on a Tarasenko scoring chance. At 5:41, the Flyers caught a break when Ridly Greig missed the net with open room after Ottawa won two puck battles and the Flyers' coverage got scrambled. A few shifts later, Hart erased a Foerster turnover with a nice save on Giroux.
As the second period moved along, the Flyers did some line combination juggling. Notably, Farabee and Tippett switched lines, with Tippett moving to Couturier's line.
Ottawa was guilty of back-to-back icings shortly after the midway point of regulation. Off a lead pass by Frost, Konecny and Atkinson had a near miss on a chance off the rush. Seconds later, Frost missed
At 14:51, Seeler took exception to a hit by Mark Kastelic on Foerster. In proxy, Seeler dropped the gloves with Kastelic and they fought.
Foerster was unable to connect on a low-to-high pass in the offensive zone and Ottawa broke out 3-on-1 the other way. Foerster took a slashing penalty at 15:41. The Sens turned it into their second power play goal of the game.
4. Ottawa controlled the second period by both the eye test and the underlying numbers as well as the bottom line of taking a two-goal lead to the second intermission. Shots on goal in the second period were 11-4 Ottawa (24-9 through two periods). Shot attempts were 23-12 Ottawa (41-29 through two periods). Scoring chances were 11-7 Ottawa with a 3-2 high-danger edge (16-14 and 5-4 respectively through two periods). Faceoffs were 16-6 Senators (30-13 Ottawa through 40 minutes).
5. Sanheim was called for interference on Thomas Chabot just 10 seconds into the third period. At 1:32, Ottawa turned it into their third power play goal of the net.
The Flyers continued to juggle lines, looking for offense.
Facing a 5-2 deficit, Sanheim made a nice backhanded pass toward the net. It went right to Deslauriers, but the Flyers were unable to capitalize. A scrum ensued after the whistle.
Philadelphia earned another power play at 4:12. After Foerster set up a scoring chance for Sanheim that narrowly missed the short side, Giroux was called for interference a few feet away. Philly was unable to draw any closer on the ensuing power play.
The Flyers got their fifth power play, drawn by the "PHD line" at 11:09. Anton Zub was sent off for high-sticking Hathaway in the face. The Flyes generated no scoring chances or shot attempts.
With 5:39 remaining in the third period, Frost made a slick move off an Ottawa turnover but Forsberg made an excellent glove save. A penalty was called on the play as Zub was called for holding. A York shot from the left side was snared by Forsberg.
The Flyers continued to extensively use the fourth line at 5-on-4. With 2:33 left after a Deslauriers scoring chance created by Hathaway and an after-the-whistle scrum, Hathaway was sent off for roughing. Forsberg denied a shorthanded chance for Atkinson. At the other end, Hart denied a Stutzle one-timer.
Final shots totals were 31-21 Senators. Final shot attempts were 53-50 Senators. Final scoring chances were 31-21 Senators, with an 11-9 Flyers edge in high-danger chances (deceptive because several came after the game was out of reach in the third period). Final hits were 19-16 Ottawa. Faceoffs were 37-23 Ottawa, with only Couturier (11-for-22) at least drawing even among Flyers who took more than one draw.
