How to watch: TSN5 / RDS2
How to listen: TSN 1200 / Unique FM 94,5
When: 1 p.m. EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center
On the second day of a back-to-back the Senators have taken to the road to face the Broad Street Bullies in Philadelphia. After beating the Flyers 5-2 in their home opener this marks the second meeting of the season and the first in the City of Brotherly Love.
The Senators are fresh off of taking one of the leagues best teams to overtime after falling to the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 yesterday afternoon. While they didn't get the win it may have been one of the Senators best showings of the season having the edge in nearly every category, they just happened to come up against Connor Hellebuyck standing on his head. Despite that, the Sens will take the point and now turn their attention to the second place in the Metropolitan Division, Philadelphia Flyers.
The Senators will get a fresh spark today with centreman Shane Pinto set to return for the first time after being held out the first 41 games of the season. Pinto is hungry and looks to pick up right where he left off after setting career highs last season with 20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points. His return provides interim head coach Jacques Martin some flexibility on the lines with five centres and the ability to move one of them to the wing. It will be interesting to see how the team lines up but perhaps not as interesting as simply seeing Pinto back on the ice doing his thing.
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The Flyers have had one of the largest single season turnarounds in the NHL this year. After finishing second last in the Metropolitan Division with just 75 points, the Flyers now sit in second with 56 points just after the midway point of the season. They have largely been led there by their defensive efforts allowing just 2.74 goals per game on only 28.5 shots ranking eighth and fifth respective in the NHL. Beyond that their penalty kill has been dynamite, stopping 86.0% of the power plays they have faced, the second best in the league.
On the offensive side of the puck the Flyers have some weapons, most notably Travis Konecny in the midst of a career season. Pacing the Flyers with 22 goals, 41 points and perhaps most impressively 5 shorthanded goals, Konecny has been lights out all season. Beyond Konecny, Owen Tippett and Joel Farabee have proven to be legitimate scoring threats with 18 and 16 respectively, while blue liner Travis Sanheim has been an incredible play maker for the Flyers tallying 22 assists.
Facing their second elite defence in two days will be no easy task but after a little preparation against the Jets the Senators should be up to the test this afternoon.
