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:
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:
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
| Ottawa | Senators | St. Louis | Blues | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 2.93 | 18th | 2.87 | 19th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.71 | 31st | 2.75 | 7th |
| Shots/GP | 29.9 | 23rd | 31.6 | 16th |
| Shots Against/GP | 36.0 | 31st | 28.6 | 3rd |
| Powerplay % | 20.0 | 14th | 20.4 | 13th |
| Penalty Kill % | 79.4 | 22nd | 80.8 | 13th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 44.49 | 31st | 51.61 | 9th |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 45.01 | 31st | 52.36 | 9th |
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | St. Louis | Blues | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Brady Tkachuk | 16 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 28 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 36 | Ryan O'Reilly | 41 |
| Points | Thomas Chabot | 49 | Ryan O'Reilly | 67 |
| Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 170 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 235 |
| TOI/GP | Thomas Chabot | 24:03 | Alex Pietrangelo | 23:51 |