Senators beat Flyers in shootout

OTTAWA - There are a multitude of reasons the Flyers will miss the playoffs for just the third time in the last 20 seasons.

At the top of the list: the team's road miseries, which continued Sunday night with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Bobby Ryan, the pride of Cherry Hill, was the only player to score in the shootout as Ottawa continued its impressive run toward a possible playoff berth. The Senators, 11-1-1 in their last 13 games, moved to within five points of Boston for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

Ryan is 4 for 9 in shootouts this season.

The Flyers slipped to 9-18-9 on the road. Put another way, they have just nine wins - the fourth-lowest total in the NHL - in 36 road games.

In full seasons, they are on pace to finish with the fewest road wins since 1971-72, when they went 7-25-7 away from home.

The Flyers have lost their last seven games (0-5-2) against teams not in a playoff spot. Conversely, they have picked up points in their last 13 games (8-0-5) against teams in playoff position.

"We let a point go, but we did a lot of good things against a good team," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "We had a lot of good scoring chances."

Rookie Andrew Hammond, who is writing perhaps the NHL's best story this season, made 27 saves and registered the win, raising his record to 10-0-1. He is the second goalie in NHL history to allow two goals or fewer in each of his first 11 starts.

The Flyers fell to 3-9 in shootouts.

Hammond, who watched Jake Voracek's shootout effort hit the post, stopped Giroux to end the hard-fought game. Giroux is 1 for 10 in shootouts this season.

"There's no excuses. You have to find a way to put it in," said Giroux, who had 11 shots (four on goal) in the 65 minutes. "It's you against the goalie. It's a mind game."

Ottawa nearly turned a Flyers turnover into a goal with four seconds left in regulation, but Milan Michalek's shot hit off the crossbar.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau batted a rebound out of midair and scored with 14:41 left in the second period, giving Ottawa a 1-0 lead against Ray Emery, who was playing for the first time in the last 13 games.

Emery made 27 saves. Inactive because he was injured or used as the backup in the previous 12 games, Emery was sharp despite playing for the first time since Feb. 19, a 3-2 shootout loss against Buffalo. He made a handful of quality saves, including a first-period stop on Pageau while the Senators had a two-on-one shorthanded chance.

"It's an easy game to get up for," said Emery, a former Senator.

The Flyers knotted the score at 1 when Voracek, taking advantage of Erik Karlsson's errant pass, one-timed a shot off Hammond's glove and into the net with 7:48 remaining in the second period. It was Voracek's 21st goal, and his first at even strength since Dec. 21, a span of 38 games.

Nicknamed the "Hamburglar" - a play on the first part of his name and the way he has robbed shooters - Hammond entered the night with a stunning 1.44 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.

The 27-year-old rookie was recalled from the AHL because of injuries. He had been struggling for Binghamton, where he was 7-13-2 with a 3.51 GAA and a .898 save percentage.

Craig Anderson, who had been the starter, has returned from an injury, but Ottawa has stayed with Hammond because he has been so dominant.

Ottawa coach Dave Cameron was undecided on which goalie to use Sunday, but after he attended church Saturday night, his priest convinced him. "He said, 'You've got to start the young fellow,' " Cameron said before the game.

After the win, a fan threw a hamburger on the ice, and Hammond held it in the air as if it was a trophy.