Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers Gameday: 3/28/17 vs. OTT
March 28, 2017, 9:04 AM ET [433 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. SENATORS

In the first game of a three-game homestand, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (35-32-8) play host to Guy Boucher's Ottawa Senators (41-25-8). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the second in Philadelphia. On Nov. 15 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers held a late 2-1 lead until Kyle Turris forced overtime with a wraparound goal off the rush. The Sens prevailed in a five-round shootout (1-0) with Erik Karlsson scoring the winner. On Dec. 1 in Ottawa, the Flyers erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period. After a scoreless third period, Claude Giroux won the game for Philly in the opening minute of overtime.

Flyers Outlook

The Flyers are 14-21-4 on the road this season but 21-11-4 at home. The team is coming off an impressive 6-2 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday right after getting blanked, 1-0, in Columbus on Saturday afternoon. Philadelphia has only the faintest of wildcard hopes, entering play on Tuesday seven points (factoring a tiebreaker disadvantage) out of the final playoff spot in the East.

The team has scored 32 even-strength goals over past 13 games (2.46 goals per game); a jump up from the modest season average of 1.53 (115 even strength goals in 75 games). Unfortunately, the power play that had been the team's offensive lifeline for the first three months has been on a rollercoaster ride since then and struggling of late. The Flyers' power play is just 3-for-44 over the past 13 games, and 0-for-14 in the past six.

On Saturday, Jordan Weal (5th goal, one assist), Valtteri Filppula (9th, second as a Flyer), Dale Weise (fifth, third in last seven games), Jakub Voracek (19th), Radko Gudas (empty net, 5th) and Shayne Gostisbehere (7th goal, one assist) contributed the goals. Claude Giroux notched his 40th and 41st assists of the season. Sean Couturier, who has 11 points in his last 12 games assisted on the Weise goal, along with rookie Travis Konecny.

In both games over the weekend, the Flyers received strong goaltending. On the heels of the Flyers wasting Michal Neuvirth's performance on Saturday -- courtesy of a spectacular game by Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky -- Steve Mason looked solid in stopping 25 of 27 Penguins shots.

An early turning point, with the Flyers trailing 1-0 and lacking energy, was a fight between Brandon Manning and Cameron Gaunce. Outshot by a 9-3 margin up to that point, the Flyers' play picked up and they started winning the puck battles.

On the injury front, Michael Raffl (lower-body injury) remains on injured reserve. Forward Nick Cousins is out with an upper-body issue.

Senators Outlook

The Senators enter Tuesday's game with a solid 21-14-0 road record as well as a 20-11-8 home mark. The club is four points (factoring a tiebreaker disadvantage) off the pace behind the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic Division and five points (plus a tiebreaker advantage) ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Ottawa has gone 5-3-2 over its last 10 games.

On Saturday, the visiting Senators suffered a 3-1 road setback in a head-to-head clash with the Canadiens. A 3-0 deficit dug largely by yielding a pair of Montreal power play goals proved insurmountable. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (10th goal of the season) got one back for the Sens but they drew no closer. Craig Anderson took the loss, stopping 21 of 24 Habs shots.

Injury-wise, the Senators are without defenseman Marc Methot, who suffered a severe finger laceration as the result of a slash on the top of the hand by Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby. Veteran enforcer Chris Neil is out with a broken finger. Clarke MacArthur (post-concussion syndrome) is out for the season. Viktor Stålberg (upper body) is day-to-day.

Projected lineups (Subject to change)

FLYERS

24 Matt Read - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valterri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare - 11 Travis Konecny

9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
15 Michael Del Zotto - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas

35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Roman Lyubimov (healthy), Michael Raffl (IR, lower body), Nick Cousins (upper body).

SENATORS

15 Zack Smith - 7 Kyle Turris - 9 Bobby Ryan
14 Alexandre Burrows - 19 Derick Brassard - 61 Mark Stone
68 Mike Hoffman - 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 10 Tom Pyatt
18 Ryan Dzingel - 22 Chris Kelly - 57 Tommy Wingels

33 Fredrik Claesson - 65 Erik Karlsson
2 Dion Phaneuf - 5 Cody Ceci
74 Mark Borowiecki - 6 Chris Wideman

41 Craig Anderson
[1 Mike Condon]

Scratches: Jyrki Jokipakka (healthy), Chris DiDomenico (healthy), Viktor Stålberg (upper body), Marc Methot (finger laceration), Chris Neil (IR, broken finger), Clarke MacArthur (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).