Flyers still looking for first road win after loss at Ottawa

While the Flyers have been playing well in front of their home fans, the same can’t be said of their performances on the road.
On Thursday night, the Flyers fell to 0-2-1 away from the friendly confines of Xfinity Mobile Arena in Phildelphia after a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario.
Goaltender Dan Vladar made his third straight start and once again was sharp but the Flyers’ offense did little after scoring a goal less than 30 seconds into the game.
The Flyers fell to 3-3-1 for the season.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said his team fell back into the habit of taking “stick” penalties. The Flyers have given up five power plays in each of their three road games this season.
And while the Senators didn’t score with the man advantage, the power plays do have a tendency to tire the offending team out.
“We had five stick penalties,” Tocchet said in a televised post-game interview.” “Four were ticky tack. . .I should say stick penalties. That means you’re not skating.”
Tocchet also didn’t like the way his team played on the perimeter and settled for a lot of harmless long shots.
“We didn’t have an interior game tonight,” he said. “That was a major factor. Guys didn’t commit to going to the net. You’ve got to get to the net. So those (including the stick penalties) were the factors in the game.”
Three ex-Flyers suited up for the Senators, led by longtime captain Claude Giroux, along with Nick Cousins and Olle Lycksell.
Lycksell gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 3:05 of the second period. He finished off a between-the-legs set-up pass from Lars Eller. That turned out to be the game winner.
No one could blame Vladar. He hasn’t allowed more than two goals in any of his starts this season.
“My job is just to give our team a chance every single night,” Vladar said.
Travis Sanheim agreed with that contention. Vladar was a one-man show in making 31 saves.
“I thought he played great again tonight,” Sanheim said. “That many penalty kills, you’re going to give up looks. He’s coming up big for us, keeping us in the game. Great for him.”
Tyson Foerster gave the Flyers a lead just 29 seconds after the opening whistle when he sent a short-side shot from the left circle past goaltender Linus Ullmark, who matched Vladar’s brilliance in this match.
The play was partly set up by a quick line change. Owen Tippett jumped off and Foerster jumped on.
“You know ‘Tip’ changed pretty quick,” Foerster said in a first intermission televised interview. As for the Senators, Foerster knew Ottawa star player Brady Tkachuk was not in uniform but the home team would still be tough. “They’re tough to play against. Good skill up the middle. And we have to be better on the wall.”
But it was mostly Ottawa after that for the remainder of the game.
The Senators put 13 shots on Vladar in the opening frame, including one which eluded the goaltender at 7:57. Michael Amadio was let loose on a clean break-in when Cam York and Travis Konecny appeared to get their defensive signals crossed.
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>Learning from video

Tocchet is big on video and the players don’t seem to mind at all.
“We spend a lot of time together explaining things,” Tocchet said. “I’m an explainerI like to explain things. I just don’t tell them what to do; there’s a reason why. I think they appreciate that. You know they want information, too.
“Also, they’re part of the process, too. They have ideas. I want them to come to me, whether you’re a first-year player or a 10-year guy. If you have an idea, bring it up.”

>Short shots

Next up for the Flyers is a Saturday afternoon home game against the New Jersey Devils. Note: It’s a 12:35 p.m. start and the first of a five-game homestand.
Sean Couturier picked up his 343rd career assist, putting him 10th on the Flyers’ all-time list.
Matvei Michkov had a chance to tie the score in the second period when he jumped out of the penalty box and had a clean breakaway on Ullman. But the shot from in close went high over the net.
The Flyers, who started this game ranked 10th in the NHL in penalty killing (83.3 percent), and, as mentioned, went five-for-five stopping the Senators’ power play to improve that percentage. . .Vladar’s save percentage for the season dropped a bit to .929.