Flyers look to get back on track vs. visiting Senators
After having a five-game winning streak and 11-game home point streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to Arizona on Thursday night, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers, who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division three points behind the second-place New York Islanders, lost to the Coyotes despite outshooting the visitors 29-18 and controlling the action for most of the game. Phil Kessel scored two goals, including the game-clincher on an empty net power play, and Darcy Kuemper finished with 28 saves for Arizona. Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault made it clear there was no need to push the panic button after the Flyers suffered just their second home loss (9-2-4) of the season. It was Philadelphia's first regulation home loss at home since Oct. 19 against Dallas. "What I will say about tonight is I think we get a 10 for effort," said Vigneault. "We worked extremely hard. We had the puck most of the night in their end. We get a 7 for execution. We're making plays, maybe not getting on the inside, but we got some real good looks where we didn't execute, weren't able to get it on net. "When you look at all the numbers after tonight we'll be double in possession, double in shots, double in everything but we couldn't find a way to beat their goaltender." "I don't think you should overanalyze it just because we lost one," added defenseman Matt Niskanen, who scored the Flyers' only goal. "Guys should be confident because we've been playing pretty good hockey and get ready for Saturday." Goaltender Brian Elliott, who stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced, agreed. "It's easy to get down on yourself after a loss but I think we've got to take a lot of the positives out of that one and move on," Elliott said. "You are not going to win them all in this league and there's going to be games that you deserve to win and you don't but you've just got to regroup and come back the next day." Next up is an Ottawa team that had just the opposite experience in its last game, snapping a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory at Edmonton on Wednesday. The Senators, who are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division just four points behind Tampa Bay, are finishing up a five-game road trip. The win over the Oilers was the team's first since a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers back on Nov. 22. Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists to lead Ottawa, which is just 5-11-1 on the road this season. Craig Anderson finished with 24 saves. Connor Brown scored the second of two goals over a 12-second span in the second period to put the Senators ahead 2-1. Ennis made it 3-1 midway through the period when he finished a 2-on-1 with Brown for his eighth goal of the season. "We haven't been getting the puck luck, but we've been playing really well defensively," Brown said. "It was good for myself and for a couple of guys in this room to find the back of the net." --Field Level Media |