NHL Preview: Ottawa Senators at Philadelphia Flyers

OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:

LAST GAME: Nov. 10, 4-3 OT loss at New Jersey: Hamilton scored with 33 seconds remaining in the extra session to send New Jersey to their eighth consecutive victory and Ottawa to their seventh consecutive loss at Prudential Center. The streak saw the Devils win at least eight consecutive games in one season for the first time 2010-11. Tatar, Hischier and Wood also tallied for the home side while Hughes added two assists. New Jersey saw their record move to 10-0-0 when captain Hischier records at least one point. Pinto paced the Senators with his first multi-goal game becoming the third rookie with at least two goals in a game this season while Hamonic also scored for the visitors. The contest was the first extra session game this season for the Senators leaving Edmonton as the lone team yet to play past sixty minutes. Vanecek started for New Jersey stopping 17 of 20 shots in 50:37 of game action before leaving due to injury. Schmid stopped each of the seven shots he faced to earn his first career NHL victory in relief. Forsberg turned aside 36 shots in taking the loss for Ottawa. Scratches: Gambrell, Zaitsev; Injuries: Norris, Zub; Shots: OTT – 27, NJD – 40; PP: OTT – 1-4, NJD – 1- 3.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: This afternoon’s game against Philadelphia will be broadcast regionally on TSN5 and TVAS2. On the radio, the game will be available locally via TSN 1200 (English) and 94,5 Unique-FM (French). WHAT’S NEXT: Ottawa begins a three-game homestand against the N.Y. Islanders on Monday at 5:30 p.m. The contest will mark the first of three regular-season meetings and the first of two matchups at Canadian Tire Centre.

INJURY REPORT: C Norris and D Zub are on IR and will not oppose the Flyers this afternoon. Total man-games lost: 24.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Recalled D Bernard-Docker from Belleville on Nov. 7.

OTTAWA vs. PHILADELPHIA – History:
2022-23 (0-1-0): Nov. 5 @ Ottawa (2-1 loss), Nov. 12 @ Philadelphia, March 30 @ Ottawa
2021-22 (2-0-1): 12/18/21 @ Philadelphia (4-3 OT loss), 3/18/22 @ Ottawa (3-1 win), 4/29/22 @ Philadelphia (4-2 win)
Series record: Overall: 44-45-8-6; Home: 25-19-6-2; Away: 19-26-2-4
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: 3/18/22 (3-1); @ Philadelphia: 4/29/22 (4-2)
Last Philadelphia win: @ Ottawa: Nov. 5 (2-1); @ Philadelphia: 12/18/21 (4-3 OT)
Last OT result: 12/18/21 (4-3 OT loss) @ Philadelphia
Last shootout: 12/21/19 (5-4 SO loss) @ Ottawa
Most goals, game: Scored: 7, (2x, Last: 1/3/10, 7-4 win); Allowed: 8, (3x, Last: 2/26/97, 8-5 loss); Both teams: 13, (2/26/97, 8-5 loss)
Last Game: Nov. 5, 2-1 loss @ Ottawa; OTT Goal: Giroux; PHI Goals: Hayes, MacEwen; OTT Scratches: Bernard-Docker, Gambrell, Hellberg; OTT Injuries: Norris, Zub; OTT Goalie: Talbot; PHI Goalie: Hart; OTT PP: 0-5; PHI PP: 1-3; Shots: 32-28. Career vs. Philadelphia: Hamonic leads all players in career games played (31) and in penalty minutes (25); Brassard leads in goals (10) and in points (15); Chabot leads in assists (eight) against Philadelphia.

SWEATER WEATHER: The Senators enter their third season of wearing a primary logo which sees the organization return to its roots with the implementation of the modified original “2D” logo. The team has earned a 59-75-12 all-time record (4-8-1 this season) while wearing its current sweater. Ottawa unveiled their Reverse Retro jersey on Oct. 20 and will wear the sweater on five occasions in 2022-23 (0-0-0 this season). The Senators hold an all-time record of 112-75-7-25 when wearing an alternate; 27-19-2-5 when wearing a red alternate, 84-55-5-19 when wearing a black alternate and 1-1-0-1 when wearing a cream alternate.

HOME ON THE RANGE: Ottawa has a record of 4-4-0 at home this season … Claude Giroux is the Senators leader with five goals at home while Brady Tkachuk maintains the club lead with nine assists at Canadian Tire Centre … Through eight home games, Tkachuk leads the team with 13 points on home ice … The Senators earned a record of 15-22-4 at home through 41 home contests in 2021-22.

ROAD SCHOLARS: The Senators have a record of 0-4-1 on the road this season … Shane Pinto leads with four goals on the road this season while Drake Batherson, Giroux and Jake Sanderson rank first with three assists while the Senators serve as visitors … Through five road games this season, Giroux maintains the club lead with five points … The Senators registered an 18-20-3 record over 41 road contests in 2021-22.

FRANCHISE RECORD: Ottawa has posted an all-time record of 1,008-990-115-177 over 2,290 games … The Senators are 552-439-60-97 through 1,148 all-time home games and 456-551-55-80 through 1,142 all-time road games.

BACK-TO-BACK GAMES: Ottawa will play back-to-back games on 12 occasions in 2022-23 and will do so for the first time on Dec. 2 when the team visits the N.Y. Rangers ahead of welcoming San Jose to Canadian Tire Centre the following evening … The Senators played 17 back-to-back sets last season and earned a record of 6-9-2 in the first half of contests on consecutive nights (0-0-0 this season) while posting an 8-8-1 record (0-0-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.

ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 10 for 47 (21.3%) on the power-play in 2022-23 … Pinto leads with three power-play goals while five players maintain the club lead with four points while the team enjoys a man advantage … Ottawa has recorded multiple power-play goals twice in an individual contest in 2022-23 after having done so 11 times in 2021-22.

ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 39 of the 50 occasions the team has been shorthanded in 2022-23 to maintain an efficiency of 78.0% through 13 regular-season games … The team has registered one (Joseph) shorthanded marker this season after recording nine such goals in 2021-22.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
COACH SMITH: D.J. Smith was introduced as the Senators’ 14th head coach in franchise history on 5/23/19. A native of Windsor, Ont., Smith spent the four previous NHL seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to joining the Maple Leafs (which was also the team for which he made his NHL playing debut in 1996-97), Smith guided the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals to a record of 135-53-3-13 over three campaigns which included his having been recognized as the OHL’s Coach of the Year in 2013-14. One year later, he helped the team capture the Mastercard Memorial Cup. His 85 head coaching victories with Ottawa see him rank sixth in franchise history.

SECOND SEASON AS CAPTAIN FOR CHUCKY: Two-time NHL All-Star Brady Tkachuk was appointed the 10th captain in Senators franchise history on 11/5/21. A native of St. Louis, Tkachuk succeeded Erik Karlsson who served in the role for four seasons from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The bronze medal winner with Team U.S.A. at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship is the first American-born skater to serve as team captain. Tkachuk is assisted by full-time alternates Thomas Chabot and Claude Giroux.

AN ALL-TIME GREAT RETURNS: This afternoon will mark the return to Philadelphia of Senators forward Claude Giroux after the Hearst, Ont. native skated in 1,000 games for the club across 15 seasons from 2007-08 to 2021-22. The five-time 25-goal scorer was the 22nd overall selection of the Flyers in 2006. Named captain prior to the 2012-13 campaign, Giroux is the club’s longest tenured captain and currently sits second among all-time Flyers in scoring (291 goals, 609 assists) while his 30 shootout markers and 11 overtime goals both lead the franchise. A seven-time All-Star, Giroux led the Flyers in scoring in eight of his last 11 full seasons, highlighted by a 102-point campaign in 2017-18 in which he tied for the NHL lead with 68 assists and ranked second in total points. The 2022 NHL All-Star Game MVP currently sits 11th in scoring among active skaters and sixth in assists.

ALL-TIME LEADERS: Chris Phillips is the Senators’ all-time leader in games played (1,179) … Daniel Alfredsson leads in goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108) … Following Phillips is Alfredsson (1,178), Chris Neil (1,026), Wade Redden (838), Radek Bonk (689), Jason Spezza (686) and Mike Fisher (675) … Neil leads in penalty minutes (2,522) while Patrick Lalime holds the lead in shutouts (30) and ranks second (283) to Craig Anderson (435) in games played among goaltenders. Anderson leads in wins (202).

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES;

UPCOMING GAMES
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME BROADCAST INFO.
Sun., Nov. 13 Dallas Stars Wells Fargo Center 1 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic
Tue., Nov. 15 Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena 7:30 p.m. ESPN+/Hulu, 97.5 The Fanatic
Thur., Nov. 17 Boston Bruins TD Garden 7 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic

CURRENT INJURIES
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Cam Atkinson upper body 9/25-present 13
Patrick Brown IR-back 9/21-present 13
Sean Couturier back 9/19-present 13
Ryan Ellis LTIR-groin/hip/back 10/11-present 13
James van Riemsdyk IR-upper body 10/27-present 7
2022-23 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 73

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
11/9 – Recalled D Egor Zamula from Lehigh Valley (AHL) and loaned G Samuel Ersson to the Phantoms
11/8 – Recalled G Samuel Ersson from Lehigh Valley and loaned D Egor Zamula to the Phantoms

FLYERS VS. SENATORS: HEAD-TO-HEAD
FLYERS SENATORS
51-36-16 ALL-TIME RECORD 44-45-14
30-15-6 HOME 25-19-8
21-21-10 ROAD 19-26-6
3-2-0 LAST 5 MEETINGS 2-1-2
6-4-0 LAST 10 MEETINGS 4-4-2
316 GOALS SCORED 289
16.1% POWER PLAY 19.8%
80.2% PENALTY KILL 83.9%
Ristolainen: 13 pts (1-12=13) in 26 GP
Hayes: 11 pts (4-7=11) in 21 GP
Konecny: 10 pts (3-7=10) in 16 GP
TEAM SCORING LEADERS Brassard: 15 pts (10-5=15) in 29 GP
Tkachuk: 10 pts (6-4=10) in 10 GP
Chabot: 9 pts (1-8=9) in 11 GP
Hart: 2-1-0, 2.04 GAA, .928 SV% in 3 GP
Sandstrom: Has not faced OTT
TEAM GOALTENDERS Talbot: 5-4-1, 2.11 GAA, .932 SV%, 3 SO in 10 GP
Forsberg: 2-0-1, 2.32 GAA, .931 SV% in 3 GP

2022-23 SEASON SERIES (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
November 5 Canadian Tire Centre PHI (2), OTT (1)
November 12 Wells Fargo Center 1 p.m.
March 30 Canadian Tire Centre 7 p.m.

TEAM NOTES
QUICK HITS

• Philadelphia has allowed the opposing team to score first in 10 of its 13 games this season but ranks T-1st in the NHL with five wins when trailing first in a game.
• The Flyers rank T-4th in the League in fewest goals against (34) and seventh in fewest goals against per game (2.62).
• Philadelphia is 4-1-2 in one-goal games this season, ranking T-5th in the NHL in one-goal game wins.
• The Flyers own eight power-play goals in 13 games this season, including four PPG in the last seven contests.
• Philadelphia killed a season-high five penalties on Nov. 5 at OTT for the second time this season, also, Oct. 15 vs. VAN. The club has killed 23-of-26 penalties in the last eight games, ranking fourth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (88.5) since Oct. 23. The Flyers are 36-of-43 on the PK this season, ranking fifth in penalty kill percentage (83.7).

BACK-TO-BACKS

• Saturday’s and Sunday’s games this weekend mark the Flyers’ fourth back-to-back set of 15 this season.
• The set marks the first of three home back-to-backs this season:

1. Nov. 12 vs. OTT; Nov. 13 vs. DAL
2. Feb. 11 vs. NSH; Feb. 12 vs. SEA
3. March 17 vs. BUF; March 18 vs. CAR

• The Flyers are 2-0-1 in the first game of a back-to-back this season and 0-3-0 in the second.

RISING TALENT

• The Flyers have five rookies (four skaters and one goalie) on the current roster and lead the NHL with seven rookies appearing in at least one NHL game this season.
• This season, the rookies have collectively recorded 12 of the team’s 97 points for a 12.4 team rookie scoring percentage.
• Philadelphia ranks seventh in the NHL in team rookie scoring percentage and T-7th in team rookie points.
• The rookies have netted a combined five goals to rank T-3rd among NHL team rookie goal percentage (14.3) and in rookie goals.
• Wade Allison (3-1=4) and Noah Cates (2-2=4) each lead team rookies in scoring. Allison leads team rookies in goals and shots (21) and ranks T-3rd on the team in hits (35). He also ranks third among NHL rookies in hits, T-3rd in EVG (3), T-4th in goals, T-7th in plus/minus rating (+4) and T-8th in shots.
• Goaltender Felix Sandstrom earned his first NHL win Nov. 8 vs. STL to become the third Swedish-born goalie in team history to record a victory (Pelle Lindbergh & Tommy Soderstrom).

KONNECT FOUR

• Travis Konecny tallied an assist Thursday night to stretch his point streak to four games (1-5=6).
• He owns nine points (1-8=9) in the last seven games, including three multi-point contests.
• He leads the team in goals (5), points (15), shots (40) and multi-point games (6) and ranks T-1st in assists (10) and game-winning goals (2) this season.
• The forward recorded his first career shorthanded assist/point vs. VAN (10/15).
• The 25-year-old netted two goals Oct. 13 vs. NJ for his 11th career multi-goal game. Per NHL Stats, he became the second player in Flyers history to have two-or-more multi-goal games in a season opener (Bill Barber, 3x, 10/9/80, 10/9/81 & 10/7/82).
• He ranks second in Flyers history in GWG (18), third in goals (115), fourth in scoring (286) and assists (171) and fifth in PPG (21) since entering the NHL in 2016-17.

IVAN THE GREAT

• Ivan Provorov recorded two points (1-1=2) Thursday night for his second multi-point game of the season.
• His goal Thursday night tied him for fourth place in team history for goals by a defenseman with Shayne Gostisbehere (60). The two points tied him for seventh place for points by a Flyers defenseman with Joe Watson (198).
• He owns three points (1-2=3) in the last two games.
• The blueliner ranks T-2nd on the team in shots (31), third in assists (7) and fifth in hits (28) this season.
• The 25-year-old leads the Flyers and ranks T-3rd in the NHL with 40 blocked shots.
• He tallied two assists, a plus-4 rating and 10 blocked shots in Philadelphia’s season opener on Oct. 13 vs. NJ.
• The Russian native’s 10 blocked shots tied the franchise record for most in a game for the third time: Andrew MacDonald (3/11/16); Provorov (11/2/17 & 10/13/22).

WHOLE LOT OF HART

• Carter Hart registered his first regulation loss of the season Thursday in Columbus.
• He opened the season on an eight-game point streak (6-0-2) to become the fourth goaltender in team history to have started a season on an eight-game plus point streak: Pete Peeters (22-0-5 in 1979-80), Bob Froese (9-0-1 in 1982-83) and Dominic Roussel (8-0-0 in 1993-94). (NHL Stats)
• He ranks second among NHL goaltenders in SV% (.941), T-4th in GAA (2.09) and T-7th in wins.
• He made a career-high 48 shots and tied his career high with 51 shots faced vs. FLA on Oct. 27.
• He recorded a career-high season-opening five-game win streak.
• Per NHL Stats, he became the seventh goaltender in Flyers history to win each of his first five games of a season and first since Ron Hextall (5-0-0 in 1995-96). The longest such stretch in franchise history is eight straight games, achieved by Dominic Roussel (1993-94) and Bob Froese (1982-83).
• The 24-year-old’s 48 saves tied for the eighth-most by a Flyers goaltender while his 51 shots faced T-10th. Per NHL Stats, his 48 saves mark the highest single game save total by a Flyers goaltenders since Steve Mason on March 22, 2016 (51 at CBJ).
• Outside of Philadelphia, he only has two NHL teams he has not earned a win against: Colorado and St. Louis.

LUCKY NUMBER 13

• Kevin Hayes owns two points (1-1=2) in the last three games.
• The 30-year-old ranks T-1st on the team in assists (10), second in points and multi-point games (4) and T-2nd in PPA (4) this season.
• He collected eight points (1-7=8) in a career-high five-game season-opening point streak, Oct. 13-22.
• He tallied his 200th career assist Oct. 19 at FLA.
• Set a career-high three-game PPP streak (3a) from Oct. 13-18.

TIP OF THE HAT

• Owen Tippett collected two points (1-1=2) Tuesday for his first multi-point game of the season, his sixth career.
• The forward owns five points (3-2=5) in the last seven games.
• He ranks T-1st on the team in PPG (2), T-2nd in goals (3) and third in shooting percentage (15.8) this season.
• The 23-year-old has 12 points (7-5=12) in 29 career games with the Flyers in two seasons.

WELCOME HOME

• Tony DeAngelo ranks T-2nd on the team in goals (3) and PPP (5), third in points (9) and fourth in assists (6) this season. He also ranks T-9th among NHL defensemen in PPP.
• He recorded five points (1-4=5) in a four-game point streak, Oct. 13-19.
• Per NHL Stats, he became the fifth defenseman in Flyers history to start a season on a point streak of at least four games: Behn Wilson (7 games in 1981-82), Chris Pronger (5 games in 2011-12), Gary Galley (four games in 1993-94) and Mark Howe (four games in 1988-89 & 1984-85).
• The blueliner scored his first goal in a Flyers sweater, on the power play, Oct. 15 vs. VAN.
• The Sewell, NJ native, made his Flyers debut on Oct. 13, registering two assists, a plus-3 rating and three blocked shots in a team-high 23:46 TOI.

STEADY AT THE HELM

• Head Coach John Tortorella became the second head coach to win each of his first three games behind the Flyers bench – only Paul Holmgren (4-0-0 in 1988-89) had done so to date. Tortorella, who has coached four other NHL clubs, has never won each of his first three games behind a team’s bench. (NHL Stats)
• He is 680-545-171 in 1,396 career games as an NHL head coach.
• He ranks second amongst U.S.-born head coaches in all-time wins. Per NHL Stats, he will become the 12th head coach in NHL history to reach 700 wins.
• He is four games shy of becoming the 12th head coach in NHL history to serve 1,400 regular season games.