NHL Update: Philadelphia Flyers beat Ottawa Senators, 6-2
Mike Richards scored twice and had two assists to lift Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-2 victory over Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Danny Briere and Andrej Meszaros each netted a goal and had an assist for Philadelphia, which has won four consecutive games and eight of nine contests overall. Scott Hartnell and James van
Riemsdyk each also notched a goal while Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 25-of-27 shots for the winners.
Milan Michalek and Nick Foligno both tallied goals for Ottawa, which has dropped four consecutive play-offs and 10 of its previous 11 contests. Brian Elliott was charged with all six goals
on 22 shots.
Briere opened the scoring of the game and got Flyers off to a good start just in the second minute of the first period. He wound up from the bottom of the right circle and scored under the
crossbar for a 1-0 lead.
Richards staked Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead in the fifth minute of the first stanza. It happened so when Braydon Coburn ripped a point shot toward the net that was turned away. But Richards
glided through the slot and tucked the rebound into the net.
Senators got a chance to open their scoring when they had a 5-on-3 advantage halfway through the middle session. But they could not capitalize and it was killed off by the home team.
After a short time, Ottawa got another big chance to score on a 5-on-4 advantage. But it was also waved off because Foligno's stick was above the crossbar when he hit the puck for a successful
shot.
Flyers enhanced the lead to 3-0 on a two-man advantage with four minutes to play in the second period. The goal came again from Richards, who deked a pass from the right circle and let go
a shot through Elliott's pads.
"Different people every night, that's what's given us success so far this season," Richards said when asked about the spread in scoring.
After less than two minutes, Michalek got Senators on the board to cut the deficit back to 3-1 on a short-handed breakaway.
“It’s a tough building to play in,” Senators coach Cory Clouston said. “We showed a lot of character. We didn’t lay down.”
Foligno then pulled Senators within another goal to make it 3-2 game in the third period, as he tipped in a rebound at the right post with 45 seconds left.
“At least we’re not rolling over and playing dead. We have a lot of fight in us,” Foligno said. “It’s just frustrating we’re not getting the wins.”
Hartnell recovered Flyers’ two-goal advantage 4-2 in 7 ½ minutes of the final stanza. The play was set up by Briere, who circled from behind the net to the left post and slid a shot. Hartnell
then picked up the rebound from the right post and hammered it into the net.
Flyers put more pressure on Senators by further increasing the lead to 5-3 after three minutes. It started when Richards snapped a shot on net that was kicked out by Elliott, but Riemsdyk
snatched the rebound and hit it in from the left wing.
Meszaros then registered the final goal of the game to make it 6-2 for Flyers after 80 seconds.
"Things don't change the scoreboard, players change the scoreboard," said Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette said. "In the third period, we needed to find the momentum. They thought
they were in the game, thought they could win."
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