The red-hot Ottawa Senators, winners of one of their last one, roll into the City of Brotherly Love (and home of the soon-to-be Super Bowl Champion Eagles) for a rare Saturday afternoon showdown with the Flyers.
It’s the first of two afternoon games for the Senators this weekend. After today’s game, they head straight to Montreal for another 1:00 PM start against the Canadiens tomorrow.
Make sure those refrigerators are well-stocked, folks. Because it’s time to get Sens/day drunk.
For the third straight game, the Senators find themselves going head to head with a team fighting for their playoff lives. The Flyers currently hold the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference but they are three teams within a single point. Philadelphia has dropped three straight coming into today too including a 4-3 loss to the Devils a couple days ago.
This is a game the Flyers absolutely have to win.
Perhaps another game like this is in order?
Head Coach Guy Boucher met with the media yesterday and as expected, had some bad news about oft-injured forward Bobby Ryan. Ryan is not expected to play in either weekend game and at this point, there is no timeline for his return. He’s going to see a specialist about his injured hand and at this point, the team has to be considering shutting him down for the rest of the season.
Bobby Ryan’s misfortune is Colin White’s opportunity.
White appeared to be destined for a return to Belleville but with an opening in the top six, it sounds like he will be sticking around for the time being. White skated on the top line yesterday with Matt Duchene and Mike Hoffman and he’ll start there this afternoon.
No game day skate today so a best guess at the line up for now.
Hoffman-Duchene-White
Dzingel-Brassard-DiDomenico
Smith-Pageau-Pyatt
Burrows-Thompson-Pajaarvi
Chabot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Oduya-Borowiecki
Craig Anderson gets the start this afternoon while Mike Condon is expected to get the nod tomorrow in Montreal. Puck drop today is set for just after 1:00 PM.
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 |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 16-24-9 (41 pts) | 24-19-8 (56 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.57 (26th) | 2.88 (16th) |
| Goals Against | 3.35 (29th) | 2.88 (T-16th) |
| Power Play | 16.0% (28th) | 21.4% (8th) |
| Penalty Kill | 75.0% (28th) | 73.9% (29th) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 30.1 (25th) 33.1 (26th) |
31.7 (16th) 29.9 (4th) |
| Scoring Leaders | Stone- 44 pts Karlsson- 34 pts Hoffman- 32 pts |
Voracek- 60 pts Giroux- 58 pts Couturier- 50 pts |
| Team Shooting % | 8.5% (T-21st) | 9.1% (15th) |
| Team Save % | .899% (26th) | .904% (22nd) |
