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Flyers rebound with 7-4 thumping of Senators

Posted on by Mike Dusak

The Flyers responded to last night’s epic 8-2 home opening meltdown with a bounce back win over the Senators. Jake Voracek scored twice and added three assists while Cal Pickard made 31 saves to earn the win in his debut with the club as the Flyers downed the Senators by a 6-4 final in Ottawa on Wednesday night.

An early chance for Ottawa forced Cal Pickard to make a nice save less than a minute into his Flyers career with a nice pad stop on Ryan Dzingel, the Sens’ top scoring forward.

Nolan Patrick would earn the Flyers an early power play by taking a stick up high along the boards just 1:06 in. On the ensuing man-advantage Wayne Simmonds would get a pair of scoring chances down low but Craig Anderson was all over it, ditto a follow up point blast from Shayne Gostisbehere.

The quick start would fade with an Andrew MacDonald hooking penalty after —you guessed it— an Andrew MacDonald turnover in his own zone. Nothing was doing for Ottawa on the MacDonald minor thanks to a pair of saves from Pickard on the kill.

Armed with another power play, this time courtesy of Ivan Provorov, the Senators would get the first goal. Brady Tkachuk deflected home a loose puck at the 11:21 mark to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. It’s the fourth-straight game the Flyers have allowed the first goal of the hockey game.

The Sens would gift the Flyers another man-advantage after the Tkachuk goal, but another golden chance for Simmonds would go by the wayside as the lead stayed at one.

Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier nearly evened things up with a 2-on-1 with just under seven minutes left in the period, but Giroux didn’t get much on the backhand attempt. At the other end Pickard would come up with a sprawling stop on Mikkel Boedker as he continued a strong first 20 minutes between the pipes.

The third time was the charm for the power play as Jake Voracek tipped home a Gostisbehere point blast to even things up at 1-1 at the 14:44 mark. Gostisbehere and Giroux picked up assists on the goal, which is Jake’s first of the year.

That would do it for the scoring in the first, with Pickard (12 saves) and Anderson (15 saves) standing tall between the pipes for their clubs.

AFTER one: Flyers 1, Senators 1

The Flyers would begin the second without Nolan Patrick, who left the bench during the first after falling awkwardly into the boards early. He would not return. Sigh.

Just 1:20 into the second the Sens would take back the lead courtesy of the man who gave them the first lead as Tkachuk fired home a wrist shot past Pickard for his second of the night to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead.

Sean Couturier would provide a quick response, though, beating Anderson with a rebound off a Radko Gudas slap shot to even things back up a 2-2 just 1:44 after the Tkachuk tally. Gudas and Voracek picked up the helpers on Coots’ second of the season.

Voracek would add a second goal himself, beating Anderson five-hole on a 2-on-1 with Giroux to give the Flyers their first lead of the game at 3-2. Time of the goal was 6:35 and Gudas was again in on the helper for the good guys.

Tempers flared after Oskar Lindblom was dumped by Alex Formenton near the Flyers’ bench resulting in a double-minor on Jori Lehtera for roughing with just under 10 minutes left in the second.

Ottawa would take advantage, with Maxime Lajoie ramming home a loose puck to nod things up at 3-3. Tim of the goal was 11:13 with Tkachuk and Chris Tierney picking up assists on the Sens’ second power play tally of the night.

Both clubs got into a wild brawl some 14 years ago, but a mini version broke out for a bit near the six-minute mark, somehow ending with yet another Senators power play.

With a whole lot happening in the penalty box, Scott Laughton would put the Flyers up 4-3 with a slick backhand to beat Anderson with 4:15 left in the period. It’s Laughton’s second of the season, this one coming at 4-on-4 from Dale Weise and MacDonald.

Late in the second Pickard would stretch back and deny Cherry Hill native Bobby Ryan to preserve the Flyers’ lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

AFTER two: Flyers 4, Senators 3

Scott Laughton would earn the Flyers an early power play in the third by wrestling with Brady Tkachuk, who picked up an extra roughing call. The Flyers were unable to take advantage despite some nice work by the second unit, one featuring Travis Sanheim with Patrick out.

It wouldn’t matter, though, as no amount of Senators defense could prevent Robert Hagg from providing more offense. His second of the season pushed the lead to 5-3, with Michael Raffl and Weise getting the assists on the goal at the 4:08 mark.

Suddenly armed with a two-goal lead, the Flyers really tightened things up defensively and in the neutral zone. That was evident as Cal Pickard went about eight minutes without having to make a save during the middle stretch of the frame.

Claude Giroux would pile on a sixth goal, notching his first of the season to make it 6-3 Flyers with another power play goal at the 12:37 mark of the third. Ghost and Voracek picked up the helpers as the Flyers moved to 2-for-7 on the man-advantage on the evening.

Lajoie would add his second of the game to pull the Sens within two at 6-4 with 2:52 left, but the Flyers would add an empty netter from Laughton to make it 7-4 and put the finishing touches on this one and into the win column.

AFTER three: Flyers 7, Senators 4

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