Flyers Finally Reach .500, Defeat Senators

Voracek scores his 9th of the season

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-1 this afternoon.

Today's game was the 7th chance the Flyers had this season to pull to an even .500 record. They had lost their previous 6 chances but finally achieved that goal today.

This afternoon's contest marked the 5th and final game of the Flyers current home stand and with the victory the Flyers put up a winning 3-2 record. However, today's game was anything but easy. Ottawa came into this game having won 5 of their last 6 games.

Ottawa played very well in the first period, while the Flyers struggled a bit from the start. Then Harry Zolnierczyk got a 5 minute major for charging as he launched himself and connected with the head of the Senators forward Mike Lundin. Zolnierczyk will likely face further supplemental discipline. However, the Flyers were able to kill off the penalty and end the period scoreless due to the great play of Ilya Bryzgalov who made 14 saves on 14 shots including multiple chances at point black range keeping the Flyers alive.

Zolnierczyk launches into Senator

The 2nd period is where all the goal scoring took place. The Flyers turned their game around in the period and put constant pressure on the Senators outshooting them 22-9. Jake Voracek got the Flyers on the board first on a great individual effort. Voracek carried the puck into the offensive zone skating around the Senators defenseman then put the puck through the 5-hole of Ottawa's goaltender Ben Bishop.

Less than 4 minutes later Wayne Simmonds gave the Flyers a 2-goal lead. Brayden Schenn sent Simmonds on a breakaway from the blue line and he beat Bishop on the backhand through the 5-hole just as Voracek did earlier.

The lead was cut to 1, when Senator's defenseman Marc Methot beat Bryzgalov on a long shot from the point. Bryzgalov knew immediately that it was a shot he needed to stop as he stared at his glove in disbelief. Fortunately for Bryzgalov and the Flyers the goal didn't rattle him and he continued to play solidly following the hiccup. Bryzgalov stopped all 14 shots after the goal preserving the lead.

Simmonds scores the GWG

It was a hard fight to the finish to gain the all important 'W' for both teams and the 3rd period got a little rough because of it. Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson completely lost his composure as he cross-checked Zac Rinaldo to the back of his head when trying to stand up for a teammate who was hit cleanly by Rinaldo. Alfredsson received a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. Unfortunately the Flyers were unable to score on the ensuing PowerPlay.

Despite the failed efforts to score on the PowerPlay, the Flyers still played near perfect defense to close the game. They held the Senators to 1 shot in the final 10 minutes of the game, earning that 'W.'

With the win, Philadelphia is currently seated in the 8th spot as they improve to 11-11-1 on the season for 23 points.

Game Notes:

Bryz wins 200th career game

• Ilya Bryzgalov won his 200 career game today.
• Claude Giroux's 6 game point streak was snapped today as he was held off the scoreboard for just the 2nd time in his last 10 games.
• It wasn't for a lack of effort: Giroux took a season high 9 shots in 23:02 minutes.
• Nicklas Grossmann led the team with 5 blocked shots while Luke Schenn led the way with 6 hits.
• Both teams went 0-5 on the man-advantage even though they both had a 5-minute major PowerPlay.
• The Flyers end their home stand 3-2. They went 6-22 on the PowerPlay while going 17-18 on the penalty kill.

Highlights:
To view highlights of today's game: CLICK HERE

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers go to New York to play the Rangers on Tuesday night.