By Canadian Press

Van Riemsdyk scores twice as Flyers down Senators 5-4 in shootout victory

Dec 21, 2019 | 8:40 PM

OTTAWA — Sean Couturier scored the shootout winner as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 Saturday night.

The game was forced to a shootout after an entertaining overtime solved nothing, but provided plenty of highlights as both goalies were excellent.

James van Riemsdyk led the Flyers (20-11-5) with two goals, while Kevin Hayes and Jakub Voracek also scored. Brian Elliott made 30 saves.

Tyler Ennis, with two goals, Mark Borowiecki and Anthony Duclair scored for the Senators (15-18-4). Marcus Hogberg, who stopped 34 shots, made his third straight start as Anders Nilsson missed his second game with a concussion and Craig Anderson was not yet ready to return from a knee injury, but he did serve as the backup.

Tied 3-3 to start the third, the Flyers went ahead as van Riemsdyk scored his second of the night beating Hogberg through the legs.

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Midway through the period, Ennis scored his second of the night as he buried a Duclair rebound to knot things up 4-4.

The Flyers had a great opportunity to seal the win late in the period after the Senators took their second bench minor of the night for too many men, but they were unable to capitalize.

Philadelphia had seized to an early 2-0 lead in the second when van Riemsdyk’s cross ice pass deflected off Cody Goloubef’s skate and in.

The Senators then went on to score twice in a span of 24 seconds to tie the game.

Ennis scored Ottawa’s first goal as he was able to pick up a loose puck by the crease and push it in. Borowiecki then tied it with a shot from the point for his fourth of the season, setting a new career-high.

At 18:21 of the second period, Ottawa took its first lead of the night as Duclair scored a power play goal. He now has 11 goals and four assists in his past 11 games.

The lead was short lived as the Flyers tied the game back up less than a minute later when Voracek was able to beat a sprawled Hogberg.

Philadelphia grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first period as Hayes was able to sneak the puck past Hogberg’s right pad.

Notes: The Senators were without three of their veteran defencemen as Ron Hainsey, Dylan DeMelo and Nikita Zaitsev are all injured… Philadelphia forward Joel Farabee served the last of his three-game suspension for his hit on Winnipeg’s Mathieu Perreault.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2019.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press