Flyers Fall Flat in Ottawa

The game was typical of the brand of Flyers hockey we’ve seen this year. They came in on a hot stretch facing off against a team that has been playing banged up and poorly. It is a team in the midst of a mess of ownership issues. And they came out and get smacked around right out of the gate. The Ottawa Senators dropped Philly 5-4 in an overtime game. And to be honest, despite the comeback, it really wasn’t that close.

Take the first period for example. The Senators had 17 shots on net. The Flyers had two. Now, I am 43, out of shape (unless you consider round a shape), and not a professional athlete. But I am pretty sure that, given the chance, I might have been able to stop at least one of the two shots faced. A seasoned professional like Cam Talbot had no issues in the first period and could’ve spent his time reading a novel. Meanwhile, poor Felix Sandstrom was under attack. The fact that he let in just one goal, an unassisted one to Austin Watson in such a short amount of time, is commendable.

Tony DeAngelo tied the game up at 2:51 into the second with a rare Flyers power play goal. However, Ottawa then went off. They scored three unanswered goals, two in the second and one in the third, by Tim Stutzle  (his 37th), Shane Pinto (his 20th), and Claude Giroux (his 29th). Ottawa may struggle with some things, but when given the opportunity to score, they’ll take it. They took 46 shots on Sandstrom. The fact that he stopped 41 shows how much growth he has made this year. God bless him.

For the Flyers, the comeback started with an unassisted goal by Cam York to start the third period. Midway through the third, Noah Cates would score his 12th of the year and the second power play goal of the game for Philadelphia. And with just a little over two minutes to go, Owen Tippett scored the game tying goal. It’s a shame that Alex DeBrincat ruined the comeback just 96 seconds into overtime. Rasmus Ristolainen ringed one off the post just seconds before the DeBrincat goal.

With the loss, the Flyers have fallen to 1-12 this year in overtime. While the “loser points” are still points, it’s hard not to think that a win slipped away. Two points are always better than one.

The game also had quite a few fights. Nicolas Deslauriers took on Mark Kastelic and Watson, with Deslauriers and Kastelic getting game misconducts. Joel Farabee also took on DeBrincat just before the Deslauriers melee.

While it is impressive that the Flyers fought back, had they put more shots on goal, they might have come out of Ottawa with a win. As is, they had only 11 shots on goal. And even with 11 shots, four sneaked through. With some more pressure, they could’ve easily come home with a victory.

Instead, they return to face Buffalo on Saturday after an ovetime loss.