Linus Ullmark gave up a goal 29 seconds into the game, but shut the door completely after that.
The Ottawa Senators got back on the winning track Thursday night with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Canadian Tire Centre. If I told you that a former Flyer scored the winning goal, you'd probably guess it was Claude Giroux, who played 1000 games for Philly.
You'd be wrong.
It was Olle Lycksell who got his first goal as a Senator, and it stood up as the game-winner for the Sens, who improved to 3-4-1 on the young season. Lycksell played 19 games for the Flyers last season before signing in Ottawa over the summer.
The Sens outshot the Flyers 33-22 on the night and picked up the win despite a shaky start, allowing a goal just 29 seconds after the opening faceoff. Tyson Foerster took a feed from Travis Konecny in the high slot and shot the puck past Michael Amadio. After several looks at the replay, it looked to me like the puck deflected off Jake Sanderson and then shot upward over Linus Ullmark’s shoulder.
That would be the last goal the Flyers would score on the night, as Ullmark played the next 59 minutes and 31 seconds perfectly. That included a great pad save on a breakaway chance from Matvei Michkov.
Amadio responded to tie the game just over seven minutes later. Claude Giroux sprinted in over the blue line, along the left boards, and the Flyers’ defense found itself way out of position. Amadio was wide open for a cross-ice pass from Giroux and had plenty of time to pick his spot, beating Dan Vladar with a shot along the ice.
Just over three minutes into the second period, Ottawa’s fourth line went to work. Behind the net, Lars Eller made a slick, no-look, between-the-legs pass to Lycksell, who snapped the puck home to make it 2-1.
Despite a hard press by the Flyers in the final minute of regulation, that was all the scoring there would be for the final 37 minutes of the hockey game.
The Senators’ much-maligned penalty kill went 3-for-3 on the night, but their power play had nothing going, finishing 0-for-5.
Giroux says it’s always special to play his old team and was pleased to get the victory.
"Yeah, I mean, we had to work hard for this win," Giroux said. "And sometimes it's gonna be like that. We had everybody playing hard, and we were able to get the lead and keep it. So I think in the third, Linus made some big saves for us. And it's just another step for us. But it's not because we won tonight that we're saying, 'OK, we're there now.' We still have a lot of work to do."
That ends Ottawa's four-game homestand. They'll now be in Washington to take on the Capitals on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
More Sens headlines at the Hockey News Ottawa:
Jordan Spence Reflects On Saturday's Mistake And His Team's Support
What’s Going On With Chabot and Jensen In Ottawa? The Early Numbers Aren’t Pretty
Senators Captain Brady Tkachuk Reveals Thumb Ligament Was Fully Torn
Senators Walk The Early Season Fine Line Between Disaster And Success
Tkachuk Has Successful Thumb Surgery And Will Miss 6-8 Weeks