Flyers get off to a fast start but drop road matchup against Ottawa Senators, 2-1

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Flyers traveled to Canada’s capital for a showdown with the Ottawa Senators.

Facing a hungry team with just one win in its past six games, the visitors got off to a good start but ultimately fell to the Senators, 2-1. It snapped Philly’s two-game winning streak and moved its record to 3-3-1.

Entering the game, Dan Vladař had the fourth-best goals-against average (1.75) and the seventh-best save percentage (.929) among NHL goalies who had at least two starts.

It’s a big reason why he was getting his third straight start. But you also cannot ignore how well he reads plays.

“We wasted a good night from Vladdy,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “I thought he did a nice job in net for us.”

» READ MORE: Thursday’s Flyers game against the Senators will feature familiar faces aplenty

In the first period, as the Flyers struggled to get the puck out, the 6-foot-5 Czech netminder saved a point shot by Ottawa defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo before stopping Tim Stützle at the right post. Less than 45 seconds later, Vladař made a save on Thomas Chabot’s shot through traffic.

The Flyers took two penalties in the opening frame, and Vladař stood tall. He squared up to stop a shot by Stützle, robbed Shane Pinto from the slot, and then stoned Stützle again, taking the shot off the shoulder.

Vladař allowed a pair of goals on the 23 shots he faced in the first two periods. Ottawa’s Michael Amadio tied the game, 1-1, in the first.

Travis Sanheim stepped toward Pinto in the neutral zone, but the Long Island native chipped the puck to teammate Claude Giroux. The former Flyers captain drew Cam York and Owen Tippett in, giving Amadio time and space to accept the saucer pass and score.

Another former Flyers forward gave the Senators a 2-1 lead. The point shot by Senators’ Nick Jensen hit Rodrigo Ābols — who centered the fourth line in place of Jett Luchanko — in the slot, slowing the puck down. It allowed Lars Eller to make a nifty no-look between-the-legs pass to Olle Lycksell, a 2017 draft pick by Philly, at the right post for the slam dunk. It is his first goal for Ottawa in four games, and the second of his career.

But then Vladař shut the door, including stopping the Senators’ three shots on goal on a power play that began 34 seconds later when Sean Couturier was called for hooking in the neutral zone.

“I thought he played great again,” Sanheim said. “He’s been a rock back there for us. Not ideal when you have that many penalty kills and you’re giving up looks, and he’s coming up big for us and keeping us in the game. So credit to him on another solid start.”

Vladař faced 33 shots, one fewer than in the Flyers’ opening night loss to the Florida Panthers when he stopped 32 of 34, and elevated his save percentage this season to .932. He has not allowed more than two goals in his five starts.

“That’s our job here, me and Sam [Ersson’s], just to give our team a chance every single night,” he said. “And I said it a lot of times, doesn’t matter if it’s 10 shots or 15, we just got to do our best to give our team a chance, and, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough today.”

The Flyers’ early 1-0 lead was courtesy of Tyson Foerster scoring 29 seconds into the game.

Coming off the bench for Tippett, who had a 21-second shift — “Wasn’t really expecting it that quick,” Foerster said — the winger received a pass on his tape from Travis Konecny and fired the wrister past Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark. Konecny pulled up on the boards after getting the puck from Sean Couturier, who tracked down the dump-in.

At the end of last season, the 23-year-old winger said he wanted to have a quicker start to his season. He has done that, notching his third goal in seven games on Thursday.

When asked if he is hitting his stride, Foerster responded postgame that, “I think offensively. I think I got to win some more battles down low and on the wall, but I just got to be a little better in those battle areas.”

Despite the score, the Flyers certainly had their chances and put 23 shots on goal. The only issue? Too much was on the perimeter.

“We’ve worked on concepts of, we call it piston offense, and we’ve got too many guys who are playing on the outside, and that’s why guys are struggling to score goals,” Tocchet said. “The good goal scorers, they go to the interior, and you’ve got to do it. We have to do it consistently.”

It took some time for players to get going as they handed the Senators five power-play chances, including two in the first period. The Flyers also got a man advantage in the opening frame and had three opportunities across games. As Tocchet has said repeatedly, it’s hard to get guys who don’t kill penalties going.

“They’re stick penalties. When you have stick penalties, that means you’re not skating,” Tocchet said. Of their five penalties — Nick Seeler got a coincidental minor, too — the Flyers were called twice for hooking and twice for tripping.

Matvei Michkov had some of the best looks and led the way with seven shot attempts, including four shots on goal.

» READ MORE: Owen Tippett is setting the tempo for the Flyers, both on the ice and with the aux cord

Late in the first period, while coming out of the penalty box, Michkov got the puck for a breakaway. Noah Cates sent the stretch pass after Jake Sanderson flubbed a shot at the point, and while Michkov skated in and pump faked, he missed on the backhand.

Less than three minutes into the second period, Michkov got the puck in the slot but had the shot blocked by Dylan Cozens.

“He’s shooting the puck,” Tocchet said. “Keep shooting, hopefully things will go for him.”

Not long after Michkov’s breakaway chance, the Flyers broke out of their end, and Tippett flew around Chabot for a shot on goal with the backhand. Trevor Zegras crashed the net and jammed at the puck, but was unable to get it across the goal line.

In the third period, the Flyers tried to get going again. Sanheim had a shot from atop the circles, snared by Ullmark, and York was stopped after getting a pass at the left point. But they were chances where the Swedish netminder — who played with Ersson at the 4 Nations Face-Off — got to see the puck well.

As the seconds counted down in the game, Couturier had a chance at the side of the net to even things up.

“Yeah, obviously got off to a good start, the first five minutes, and then took our foot off a little bit,” Sanheim said. “We let them get some momentum and get some chances. And then obviously, toward the end, we started to get some looks again, but just couldn’t capitalize.”

For every save Vladař and Sam Ersson make in the month of October, they are donating to the October Saves Goalie Challenge, which supports cancer research and patient care. Flyers Charities will match their donations.

The Flyers return home for a matchup with 2025 No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders on Saturday (12:30 p.m., NBCSP).