The return of former Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux was celebrated with a 4-1 victory for the Ottawa Senators over the Pennsylvania squad. The win ended their seven-game losing streak.
Giroux was warmly applauded by Flyers fans before the game. His reign as captain was the longest in team history and he ranks second in Philadelphia team history in points.
GIroux distinguished himself by setting up two goals for his team during the Senators’ victory, those of Thomas Chabot and Alex DeBrincat.
Giroux was traded from the Flyers to the Panthers last March, before signing as a free agent with the Senators over the summer.
From the start of the game, the Flyers set the tone with several shots on Cam Talbot who kept his team in the game.
John Tortorella’s men, who increased the pressure on the Senators players, also stood out on the robust aspect by distributing several checks to the opponent.
This match which breathed the defensive aspect during a good part of the first period finally turned to the attack. During a Flyers zone entry that was led by Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia came into the slot following a maneuver by Travis Konecny. Talbot who lost sight of the puck in his semicircle and on the rebound left by Talbot, it was Hayes who jumped on the rebound to put his team in control of the game.
Hayes’ goal added an extra dose of confidence as Philadelphia continued to apply a consistent forecheck, but didn’t scare off DJ Smith’s men.
Shane Pinto, who had a two-goal game last Thursday, came up against in-form Carter Hart. The repetitive attacks of the Senators were almost rewarded by the effort of Pinto and his teammates.
While Brady Tkachuk was stamped on the tape by Nicolas Deslauriers, Thomas Chabot was served by a skillful pass by Derick Brassard, which allowed the Quebec defender to escape in front of Hart who beat him with a nice feint.
From the beginning of the second period, Hart had to report in front of the repetitive attacks of the Sens who did not release the accelerator pedal.
Despite pressure from the Senators, Talbot had to step in time and time again, making key saves that kept his team in the game.
This high intensity game proved too intense for Deslauriers who was caught by the referee for obstructing Jake Sanderson. 49 seconds from the end of the second period, Alex DeBrincat punished the indiscipline of Deslauriers, following a nice three-way exchange between Tkachuk and Stützle.
During the third period, the Flyers did not relax the aspect of robustness and maintained a forecheck, synonymous with the identity of Tortorella.
Check after check, Philadelphia gave itself the means to come back in the meeting, but Talbot gave only crumbs, making a total of 37 saves. His opponent Carter Hart made 23 saves.
During a penalty from Scott Laughton against Austin Watson, DeBrincat doubled his counter by scoring his second goal of the game on the power play.
Tim Stützle sealed the match by scoring in an empty net. Brady Tkachuk had three assists.
