Game 70 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Philadelphia Flyers

The Sens head into the City of Brotherly Love trying to unite as a group for the final stretch of the season

Coming off a close loss to the playoff-bound Bruins, the Senators are in Philadelphia to take on a Flyers squad that was on the verge of playoff contention, but may have run out of time.

The Sens had an optional morning skate, and have called up forward Filip Chlapik from Belleville in lieu of an injury to an unknown forward. Chlapik is a natural centre, but has played left-wing occasionally while in Ottawa, so I’m not going to try and guess who’s in and out. Here’s how Crawford lined his crew up against the Bruins:

Tkachuk - Pageau - Duclair
Smith - White - Ryan
Gibbons - Lindberg - Boedker
Balcers - Tierney - Paajarvi

Chabot - DeMelo
Wolanin - Ceci
Borowiecki - Harpur

Anderson (starter)
Nilsson

Meanwhile, here’s how the Flyers are expected to line-up also interim head coach Scott Gordon:

Lindbolm - Couturier - Giroux
van Riemsdyk - Patrick - Konecny
Raffl - Laughton - Hartman
Varone - Knight - MacDonald

Provorov - Sanheim
Gostisbehere - Myers
Hagg - Gudas

Elliott (starter)
Talbot

Extras: Neuvirth (inj.), Hart (inj.), Morin (scratch)

Game Notes

  • The Flyers have used... EIGHT different goaltenders this year. Two, including the highly-touted Carter Hart, are currently on the IR. Somehow, Brian Elliott is back healthy in time to face his old club and the goalie he was traded for — Craig Anderson. Mike McKenna is also in the organization but is currently with the team’s AHL club.
  • With their season all but over, Philadelphia has transitioned to their youth movement. 22-year-old Oskar Lindbolm is on their top-line and Philippe Myers is up from Lehigh Valley. Myers, you may recall, was Thomas Chabot’s partner at the World Juniors and is a promising right-handed defence prospect.
  • Jake Voracek will be missing tonight after being suspended two games for “interference”. He’s appealing his suspension.
  • The Senators have lost 10 of their last 11, but have a shot against a streaky Flyers squad — especially if they manage to keep their effort level up. They weren’t present for much of the contest against the Bruins, but were actually >50% in shot attempts in both games against the Islanders. /

Here are some stats, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com:

Team Stats

OttawaSenatorsSt. LouisBlues
CategoryValueRankValueRank
Goals/GP2.9318th2.8719th
Goals Against/GP3.7131st2.757th
Shots/GP29.923rd31.616th
Shots Against/GP36.031st28.63rd
Powerplay %20.014th20.413th
Penalty Kill %79.422nd80.813th
Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted)44.4931st51.619th
Fenwick (5v5, SVA)45.0131st52.369th

Player Stats

OttawaSenatorsSt. LouisBlues
--Player#Player#
GoalsBrady Tkachuk16Vladimir Tarasenko28
AssistsThomas Chabot36Ryan O'Reilly41
PointsThomas Chabot49Ryan O'Reilly67
ShotsBrady Tkachuk170Vladimir Tarasenko235
TOI/GPThomas Chabot24:03Alex Pietrangelo23:51

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