The Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators had an action packed first period of play Tuesday night.
Philadelphia opened the game with two quick power plays. They were unable to capitalize, however, before Sean Couturier sat for a cross checking penalty.
The Senators thought they had scored on the man advantage, but the goal was disallowed because the net came off its moorings.
Philadelphia’s Andrew MacDonald was penalized for hooking, giving the visiting Sens a 5/3 man advantage for 23 seconds. Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson made them pay with a goal during the 5/3 advantage leaving Ottawa with a one man advantage for an additional a minute and a half.
The Flyers Brandon Manning was hit with a high stick cancelling Ottawa’s power play.
This time the Flyers, on their third attempt, made Ottawa pay. Brayden Schenn scored his NHL leading 16th on the power play as he tipped in a Shayne Gostisbehere blast.
To add to an already crazy first frame, Radko Gudas dropped the gloves with Mark Borowiecki. Gudas defeated Borowiecki,in the fight sticking up for teammate Jordan Weal.
The second frame saw no scoring as both teams pushed to no avail. The Flyers gained a late power play as the result of a Chris Kelly hooking minor with 58 seconds remaining. Philadelphia led 20-18 on shots through two periods.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers, who were set to have one minute of power play time to start the third, lost the man advantage when Jake Voracek was sent off for tripping.
The Flyers and Senators went back and forth before Philadelphia had five minutes of constant pressure, completing three line changes in Ottawa’s zone. Unfortunately on the next shift they gave up a goal against and fell behind 2-1. Jordan Weal scored his 6th of the season tying the game by picking off a Craig Anderson pass.
For the third and final time this season, the clubs needed overtime to settle the game.
Three-on-three overtime didn’t solve the deadlock, as the two clubs decided the final outcome in the shootout.
Jordan Weal stepped up first. The rookie has scored for the Orange and Black in both his attempts this season. Steve Mason stopped all three Senators’ shooters on route to a 3-2 win. With the win the Flyers took the season series 2-1.
The Flyers now sit seven points back of a playoff spot, but can still take positives from this game. The most obvious point is that Jordan Weal has been stellar as of late.