Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators Recap and Takeaways

Dec 9, 2013; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Michael Raffl (12) shoots and scores against Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson (41) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Flyers earned one point in Ottawa Monday night. The game was a roller coaster in which the Flyers eventually lost in a shootout.

The first period was about as average as they come for the Flyers. They came out and controlled play early even though the Senators had the first three shots. The Flyers struck first as Michael Raffl got his first NHL goal 8:18 into the game. Just 2:19 later, Mark Streit whiffed on a shot which led to Clarke MacArthur goal on a breakaway. After the goals were scored, the Flyers killed off a penalty and had an unsuccessful power play of their own. Rosehill had his nightly fight, his opponent tonight being Matt Kassian. However, at the end of the period the Flyer got a treat, watching Sean Couturier fight (and beat) Kyle Turris with only 11 seconds left in the period. The period ended with the score 1-1 and the Flyers down in shots 9-5.

The second period was a good one for the Flyers. The Flyers took two minor penalties early in the period and were burned on the second one. Patrick Wiercioch was left wide open in front of Steve Mason on the power play to give the Senators a 2-1 lead. However, about two minutes later the Flyers struck back with a power play goal of their own. Jakub Voracek scored by making a heads up play, shooting a rebound of his own shot that had gone off of a Senators defender. Only 1:50 later the Flyers were given great forechecking pressure from Steve Downie, Michael Raffl, and Wayne Simmonds. They got the puck to Luke Schenn at the point who shot a laser to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead. The Flyers went into the second intermission up 3-2 and with the momentum despite having been outshot 18-15 in the game.

On the very first shift of the third period, the Claude Giroux line looked like they had the killer instinct. However, the rest of the team clearly did not. The Flyers allowed goals 2:21 and 8:21 into the third period and were down 4-3 just like that. The go ahead goal by Kyle Turris  went off of Luke Schenn’s skate. The Flyers were given a gift with nine minutes remaining in regulation when Kimmo Timonen put a weak shot past Craig Anderson to tie the game at 4-4. The Flyers then went into a shell at that point and seemed to be playing for overtime. The game went to an overtime in which neither team had an abundance of chances. The game then went to a shootout. The first four shooters (MacArthur, Read, Ryan, and Giroux) were denied. Jason Spezza then pulled off a great move to beat Mason. With the game on his stick Sean Couturier shot a wrist shot off the cross bar to seal the deal for the Senators.

Takeaways:

-Congratulations to Michael Raffl for scoring his first NHL goal. He had a very good game tonight and his forechecking earned him an assist as well.

-As a whole, Luke Schenn played a good game. He had a goal against ricochet off of him and had a few small turnovers. However, his beautiful pass set up the first goal and his great point shot earned him a goal.

-A Flyers defenseman, Schenn or Kimmo, had a hand in all four of the Flyers regulation goals. They each had a goal and an assist. This game was a testament to the fact that to win games in the NHL you need team offense and team defense.

-The Flyers were down 2-1 and 4-3 in this game. They showed a lot of resiliency. They were also winning 1-0 and 3-2 and let those leads slip away.

-Mason allowed four goals for the second straight game. Although he did not play poorly, he did not play great either.

-Mark Streit was awful. His abundance of turnovers, penalties, and just dumb plays made him almost unbearable to watch tonight. He will need to step it up immediately. I would even consider benching him in favor of Gus. It was that bad.