Philadelphia, PA – Jason Spezza scored the winner in the second round of the shootout, lifting the Ottawa Senators over the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3.
Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who now sit four points ahead of Buffalo and Washington for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Spezza and Chris Neil also lit the lamp in regulation.
Craig Anderson made 36 saves for Ottawa, which has scored 18 goals during a three-game winning streak.
Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier and Braydon Coburn scored for the Flyers, who are now three points behind idle Pittsburgh for the fourth seed in the East. Philadelphia plays at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the Flyers, who have dropped two of three.
Philadelphia's Matt Read started the shootout with a goal, but Milan Michalek responded with a goal of his own. After Claude Giroux's backhander sailed high, Spezza beat Bobrovsky with a snap shot. Anderson then stopped Danny Briere to seal the victory for Ottawa.
The Senators put three goals on the board in the first period. At the 6:04 mark, Alfredsson gathered the puck behind the net and pretended like he was going for a wrap-around. Instead, Alfredsson backhanded a pass to the side of the net for Spezza and Ottawa took a quick 1-0 lead.
A turnover by the Flyers led to the Senators' next goal. Eric Wellwood tried to clear the zone, but the disc hit off the boards and went to Erik Karlsson. His pass to the high slot set up an Alfredsson one-timer that sailed past Bobrovsky at the 11:39 mark.
Neil made it a 3-0 game with 5:33 to go. He controlled the puck along the left boards and fired a shot through a maze of players. The disc snuck through Bobrovsky and past the line.
Philadelphia came storming back in the middle stanza. At the 2:59 mark, Brayden Schenn made a nice move before firing a shot on net from the high slot. The puck hit off Simmonds' nose and went into the net.
With 5:22 to go, Couturier went charging toward the net. Anderson got a piece of his backhander that managed to trickle past the line. An Ottawa player ran into the net as the puck went in. Following a review, it was determined the disc passed the line prior to the net coming out of place.
The Flyers made it a 3-3 game with 2:43 left. Briere fed a pass from the bottom of the right circle to Coburn in front. Coburn was able to chip the puck past Anderson.
Bobrovsky made five saves in the third frame, while Anderson stopped four shots.
Briere almost ended the game in overtime, but his shot from the slot hit off the post. Philadelphia also failed to score on the power play in the final 49 seconds of the extra session.
Game Notes
The Flyers and Senators split four meetings this season...Simmonds got stitches to his nose after his goal and returned to the game with a visor...Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game with an upper-body injury...Briere had two assists...Philadelphia's No. 1 goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov remains sidelined with a chip fracture in his right foot.
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