The set-up
The Sens (9-17-1) were narrowly beaten 2-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday in the second game of its trip. They had opened the roadie with a dominant 8-2 win over the Panthers Tuesday.
Philadelphia (11-12-5) lost 3-2 in a shootout to Montreal Thursday but had won its previous three contests. However, that came after a nine-game losing streak (0-7-2) that ran from Nov. 18 - Dec. 10 and saw Alain Vigneault replaced by Mike Yeo on Dec. 6.
Ottawa's consecutive penalty kill streak ended at 14 on Thursday but they have still only given up one power play goal in its last 18 kills. The Flyers penalty kill ranks 12th in the NHL at 81.3 per cent.
The Flyers average 3.31 goals per game at home, the 12th most in the league, but overall they rank 25th at 2.61.
Ottawa failed to score on the power play Thursday but their 20 per cent conversion rate ranks 12th. The Flyers have the seventh worst man advantage in the NHL as they convert just 16.3 per cent of the time.
Nine of the Flyers' 11 wins this year have come when they score first.
Roster notes
After suffering a heel injury against Tampa Bay Thursday, Nikita Zaitsev is expected to be out four weeks. In his place, Jacob Bernard-Docker will draw in and play his first NHL game since Nov. 14.
"He's going to miss some time," Sens head coach D.J. Smith said. "We don't know the exact timeline but it'll be somewhere around that four week range."
Previous history
Tonight is the 100th all-time meeting between the Senators and Flyers. Ottawa is 42-44-5 with eight ties in the previous 99 meetings.
In six previous games against Philly, Brady Tkachuk has five goals and seven points while as a member of the Senators, Tyler Ennis has three goals in three games.
The Senators host Philadelphia March 18.
Who to watch
Thomas Chabot scored his first goal of the season Thursday and in the process extended his point streak to a career best six games.
In 27 games this year, Chabot has 17 points and continues to lead the NHL in time on ice average at 27:01 a night.
Where to watch
Saturday's game can be seen live on CITY, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet ONE at 7 p.m. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
