Flyers Offense Goes Quiet, Lose 2-1 to the Senators

The Philadelphia Flyers got off to a hot start, but were then quieted in their 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

Tyson Foerster scored early for the Flyers, but that’s all the offense the Flyers would get.

The Senators outmatched the Flyers in Thursday night’s action. Philadelphia found itself on the penalty kill more often than it would have liked to be. The penalty kill and Dan Vladar put the Flyers in position to win, but they could not generate any offense.

Here is how we got to the 2-1 final.

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Period 1

29 seconds. That’s all it took for the Flyers to get on the board in Thursday’s contest. Philadelphia put the pressure on the Senators right from the opening draw. The Couturier line sustained pressure, but it was Tyson Foerster (3) from the bench who buried the goal on the Flyers’ first shot of the game.

After just 29 seconds, the Flyers possessed a 1-0 lead. Foerster’s goal was assisted by Travis Konecny (3) and Sean Couturier (6).

The Flyers had a couple of good looks as the period progressed, but the Senators eventually settled into the game. After Philly started the game with four unanswered shots, Ottawa responded with four straight of their own.

On their fifth, it was Michael Amadio who answered the call, beating Dan Vladar to even the score at one with 12:03 remaining in the period.

Both teams would have an opportunity on the man advantage. In fact, after a Matvei Michkov penalty, the Senators had two. Both penalty kill units held their own and left the game tied at one.

Though the Flyers did have two grade-A chances. One, on a Michkov breakaway out of the box, which would have been incredibly ironic if he scored after John Tortorella’s recent story. Trevor Zegras almost had his first goal as a Flyer, but the puck was stopped just inches short.

Instead, the game would remain tied at one after the first 20 minutes.

2nd Period

A good shift from Zegras, Michkov, and Christian Dvorak generated a few good looks early in the second period, but it was Ottawa that had all of the momentum early in the second.

Former Flyer Olle Lycksell scored on the second-chance effort just 3:09 into the second period. Claude Giroux had an excellent look for Ottawa himself, followed by the Senators’ third chance with the man-advantage of the game following a Couturier holding penalty.

As they had been all game, the Senators’ power play looked dangerous, but the Flyers were able to come away with the big kill.

The rest of the period would remain very physical. It looked like Ottawa was starting to take control of the game. Both teams were laying hit after hit. Both teams had a pair of penalties in the period, including a matching set for removing the opponent’s helmet for Nick Seeler and David Perron.

Neither team scored on the man-advantage, so it was Lycksell’s early period tally that was the difference in period number two.

The Flyers entered the second break trailing the Senators by a score.

3rd Period

Philly carried over the remaining 37 seconds of their late-second period power play into the third, but were unable to generate anything on the attack.

Less than two minutes after Ottawa killed off the remaining Flyers’ power play, the Senators got their own power play, the first of three total in the first 6:30 of the third period. The Senators had two chances compared to the Flyers’ one in that time frame, but neither team could get anything going.

Ottawa dominated the second period. They were far less dominant in the third period, despite all the time on the power play.

Still, the Flyers struggled to sneak back into the game. It seemed like that first-period dominance vanished, and it became a much different-looking team. The Flyers would pick up the intensity late in the period, including with the goalie pulled.

There would be some good chances in the final minute, but the Flyers could not convert.

Ottawa would come away from the game with the 2-1 win.

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Flyer(s) of the Game

Even in the loss, Dan Vladar had a heck of a game once again. However, it was the Flyers’ penalty kill that was the “Flyer(s)” of the game.

It was yet another game where the Flyers had to kill off five penalties. The Senators’ power play looked dangerous all night, but the Flyers’ power play was able to keep them away from the high-danger areas and minimize the damage.

The penalty kill, along with Vladar, kept the Flyers in the game all game. It could have been worse, but the PK did a good job keeping the Senators’ power play scoreless.

What’s Next for the Flyers

The Flyers return home to open a five-game homestand when they host the New York Islanders at 12:30 p.m. EST at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Read More: What We Have Learned About the Flyers Through Six Games