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Flyers Gameday: 12/1/16 vs. OTT |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS vs. SENATORS
Looking to build just their second three-game winning streak of the season, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-3) are in Canada's capital city on Thursday to take on Guy Boucher's Ottawa Senators (14-8-1) on Thursday evening. Game time at the Canadian Tire Centre is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season and the lone game in Ottawa. The season series will conclude on March 28 in Philly.
On Nov. 15 in Philadelphia, the Flyers sustained a frustrating 3-2 shootout loss to the Senators. Three straight unsuccessful power play opportunities early in the third period, a late third-period wraparound goal and a 0-for-5 showing in the shootout forced the Philadelphia Flyers to settle for one point on a night were a regulation victory seemed well within reach. Instead, the Senators, via skills competition, skated off with a 3-2 win.
A first-period breakaway goal by Nick Cousins and a second period rebound tally by Michael Raffl gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. However, Philadelphia was unable to build on the lead.
Ultimately, some poor execution on the tying goal scored by Kyle Turris at 18:01 of the third period proved costly to the Flyers. Turris attacked with speed up the right wing, swinging wide around defenseman Brandon Manning. Steve Mason overcommitted himself to his left and was unable to get across before Turris, in the blink of an eye, swooped untouched around the net and tucked the puck home on a wraparound. Earlier, Mark Stone cashed in a Jakub Voracek turnover to knot the score at 1-1 in the first period.
Mason's tactical error on the wraparound ended up being the focus of attention on a night where he otherwise played very well in stopping 24 of 26 shots, a 2-on-0 breakaway in overtime plus each of the first four attempts he faced in the shootout. Finally, fifth-round shooter Erik Karlsson scored to secure the bonus point for the Senators.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are coming off a 5-3 home win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday that was not as close as final score suggested and a 3-2 home shootout win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday in which Mason stole a game the team did not otherwise deserve to win. It took 45 regulation and overtime saves and an 8-for-9 performance in the shootout by Mason to eke out the two points against Boston.
Michael Del Zotto (2nd goal of the season) and Claude Giroux (power play, fifth goal of the season) scored in regulation for the Flyers. Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere converted their chances in the nine-round shootout. Back in the third period, Voracek had an unsuccessful penalty shot attempt after Boston rallied to tie the score at 2-2.
Wayne Simmonds enters Tuesday's game leading the Flyers with 22 points in 24 games, including a team-high 11 goals. He is followed by Voracek (eight goals, 12 assists), Claude Giroux (five goals, 15 assists), Brayden Schenn (three goals, 11 assists in 21 games), Konecny (four goals, nine assists), Mark Streit (four goals, eight assists) and Shayne Gostisbehere (four goals, seven assists).
Senators Outlook
The Senators rattled off a four-game winning streak late in November but ended the month with a 5-4 regulation home loss to the Buffalo Sabres. A poor first period, getting outscored 3-1 and outshot 14-7, proved to be too much for the Senators to overcome despite a hat trick compiled by one-time Flyers training camp (2008 rookie camp) tryout Mike Hoffman, who notched his fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the season.
Craig Anderson, who stopped 23 of 28 shots in the Buffalo game but has been otherwise having an outstanding season (2.20 GAA, .930 save percentage, three shutouts) under extremely tough personal circumstances, has taken leave from the team. He has traveled to be with his wife Nicholle, who is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments at a New York hospital for a rare form of throat cancer. Speaking on behalf of everyone at HockeyBuzz, our thoughts and prayers are with the Andersons.
Mike Condon will get the start in goal for the Senators against the Flyers. Andrew Hammond will be the backup. Veteran winger Bobby Ryan (hand injury) is unavailable to play, while defenseman
Marc Methot is doubtful.
Projected Lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS (will be updated)
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny - 25 Nick Cousins - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 78 P-E Bellemare - 22 Dale Weise
76 Chris VandeVelde - 10 Brayden Schenn - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 3 Radko Gudas
15 Michael Del Zotto - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
35 Steve Mason
[41 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Brandon Manning (upper body), Sean Couturier (lower body, suspected left MCL), Boyd Gordon (LTIR, upper body), Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).
SENATORS
68 Mark Hoffman - 19 Derick Brassard - 61 Mark Stone
18 Ryan Dzingel - Kyle Turris - 27 Curtis Lazar
15 Zack Smith- 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 10 Tom Pyatt
89 Max McCormick - 22 Chris Kelly- 25 Chris Neil
33 Fredrik Claesson - 65 Erik Karlsson
2 Dion Phaneuf - 5 Cody Ceci
74 Mark Borowiecki - 6 Chris Wideman
1 Mike Condon
[30 Andrew Hammond]
Scratches: Craig Anderson (personal leave), Bobby Ryan (hand), Marc Methot (lower-body).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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