Senators win without Bobby Ryan, Zach Smith or Kyle Turris; defeat Flyers 5-4
OTTAWA — Bobby Ryan, Zach Smith and Kyle Turris were out but the Ottawa Senators still found enough offence and just enough defence on Thursday to earn a tough two points.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and two assists and Erik Karlsson had two assists as the Senators, without three of their best players, defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. They will be without the trio again Friday as they play the Devils in New Jersey.
“Coach addressed it and said sometimes adversity at the beginning of the year is a good thing,” said defenceman Mark Borowiecki, who had one of the Senators goals. “Obviously you never want to see guys hurt or sick but from a group perspective if you’re able to battle through that adversity earlier it can make you tighter going through the stretch.”
The Flyers appeared to score midway through the third period but after a coach’s challenge the goal was reversed due to goaltender interference. Less than a minute later Tom Pyatt scored at 10:33 to give the Senators a 5-2 lead before Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov and Sean Couturier cut that lead to 5-4 with goals at 15:18 and 18:14 respectively.