Spezza, Senators dump slumping Flyers
Posted April 5, 2011 11:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Jason Spezza scored once and added three assists Tuesday as the Ottawa Senators defeated the slumping Philadelphia Flyers 5-2.
Spezza’s 20th goal of the season came on the power play at 8:02 of the third to give Ottawa a 4-2 lead. The Senators scored three times with the man advantage before an announced crowd of 18,397 at Scotiabank Place.
Ryan Shannon and Bobby Butler had a goal and an assist each, while Nick Foligno and Milan Michalek, into an empty net, rounded out the scoring for Ottawa (31-39-10). Filip Kuba added two assists.
Butler scored at even strength on a breakaway late in the second period to give the Senators a 3-2 lead.
Ottawa has won two of the past three and four of the past five at Scotiabank Place to improve a poor home record to 15-20-5.
Craig Anderson made 27 saves, sending the Flyers (46-23-11) to their four loss in a row and fifth in the past six games.
Mike Richards scored both goals for Philadelphia, which failed to clinch the Atlantic Division title with the loss and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.
The Flyers also fell out of first place overall in the Eastern Conference and now trail the Washington Capitals by two points after the Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout.
Kimmo Timonen assisted on both goals and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots for the Flyers, who have only two wins in the past nine. Philadelphia played without centre Daniel Briere for the second straight game because of a lower-body injury.
The defeat extended the Flyers’ troubles in Ottawa.
Philadelphia has dropped seven straight and 10 of its last 11 at Scotiabank Place, with the last victory coming Nov. 24, 2007.
The Flyers made it 1-0 on the power play when Richards picked up his own rebound off a blocked shot and wired the puck past Anderson at 3:40 mark of the first.
Philadelphia was soon back on the man advantage after Ben Holmstrom appeared to catch Ottawa’s Zack Smith with a high hit. With no penalty called on the play, Senators right-winger Chris Neil took Holmstrom to task for the check and received an instigator penalty and 10-minute misconduct in addition to the players’ fighting majors.
The Flyers failed to take advantage, however, and Foligno redirected a pass from Spezza by Bobrovsky on Ottawa power play at 15:37.
Power plays also accounted for the next two goals with Richards taking a pass from Nikolai Zherdev in the slot and beating Anderson with his 23rd goal of the season at 15:56 of the second to make it 2-1.
It was short-lived, however, as Shannon answered less than 2 1/2 minutes later with a shot from the point through traffic.
In the final seconds of the period, Smith sprung Butler on a breakaway and he scored to give the Senators a 3-2 lead heading to the third.
Spezza provided some breathing room when he fired a bullet over Bobrovsky’s shoulder from the top of the faceoff circle.
Michalek scored into an empty net with Bobrovsky pulled in favour of the extra attacker.
Notes: The Senators recalled forward Roman Wick and defencemen Andre Benoit and Patrick Wiercioch from Binghamton of the AHL for the game. … Ottawa wraps up its home schedule Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens. … Foligno has declined USA Hockey’s invitation to join its team for the upcoming world championship in Slovakia. .. After the game, the Senators gave their shirts away to randomly-drawn season-ticket holders. … The Flyers placed goaltender Michael Leighton on re-entry waivers Tuesday. … Flyers centre Blair Betts sat out the game with a lower-body injury suffered Sunday against the New York Rangers. He’s listed as day-to-day. … The Flyers don’t play again until Friday, when they visit the Buffalo Sabres.
