Flyers-Senators: Game 36 Preview

The last time the Flyers met the Senators, it was a spirited and physical game that featured a late Flyers goal to lift them to victory. Some bad blood between the two teams surfaced late, setting the tone for the next meeting.

The rematch two weeks later has been highly anticipated, as the Flyers hit the road to face the Senators for the final time this season.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Ottawa Senators	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	32	11	21	32	Anthony Duclair	36	20	8	28
Sean Couturier	35	9	19	28	Jean-Gabriel Pageau	36	16	10	26
Claude Giroux	35	11	13	24	Thomas Chabot	36	3	19	22
Jake Voracek	35	7	17	24	Brady Tkachuk	36	12	9	21
Ivan Provorov	35	8	14	22	Connor Brown	36	6	15	21

Player to Watch
25 James van Riemsdyk	10 Anthony Duclair
Last 5 Games: 4 G, 1 A, 5 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 5 G, 1 A, 6 P, -2

James van Riemsdyk has been the hottest Flyer of late. He scored twice in Thursday win over Buffalo and has four goals in the last five games and six goals since Nov. 29. With van Riemsdyk elevated to a higher role, he has started to get some bounces going his way and picking up the production.

Two weeks ago, Anthony Duclair scored two goals against the Flyers. In the six games since then, Duclair has added seven goals in six games and a total of nine points in that time.

Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	35 Marcus Hogberg
16 GP, 7-4-2, 2.96 GAA, .904 SV%	4 GP, 1-1-1, 2.93 GAA, .906 SV%

Brian Elliott gets the start for the Flyers on Saturday night in Ottawa. Elliott suffered the loss against the Jets last Sunday, allowing six goals on 17 shots before being pulled for the start of the third period. Elliott has lost both starts in the month of December after closing November on a three-game winning streak.

Marcus Hogberg gets another start in goal after picking up his first career win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, making 33 saves on 37 shots in the process. This is the third different goalie the Flyers will face against the Senators this season. Craig Anderson, who exited the last meeting two weeks ago with injury, is close to returning and will serve as the backup. Anders Nilsson is now out with injury. He defeated the Flyers on Nov. 15.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Scott Laughton (groin, day-to-day), Michael Raffl (broken finger, out 4 weeks from Dec. 3), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Robert Hagg (healthy), Joel Farabee (suspension)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	13 Kevin Hayes	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
10 Andy Andreoff	48 Morgan Frost	93 Jake Voracek
18 Tyler Pitlick	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	44 Chris Stewart
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	5 Phil Myers
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott	79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Chris Stewart re-enters the lineup, largely in light of how the last meeting between the two teams went. David Kase was sent down to the Phantoms on Friday. The rest of the lineup projects to remain the same, but both Matt Niskanen and Phil Myers will be game-time decisions due to illness, so there could be other changes coming if one or both is not able to play.

Senators Projected Lineup

Injuries: Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev, Dylan DeMelo, Scott Sabourin, Marian Gaborik

Scratches: Mikkel Boedker

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
7 Brady Tkachuk	44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau	28 Connor Brown
13 Nick Paul	71 Chris Tierney	10 Anthony Duclair
90 Vladislav Namestnikov	51 Artem Anisimov	63 Tyler Ennis
21 Logan Brown	64 J.C. Beaudin	36 Colin White
Defense
72 Thomas Chabot	29 Cody Goloubef
74 Mark Borowiecki	26 Erik Brannstrom
58 Maxime Lajoie	39 Andreas Englund
Goalie
35 Marcus Hogberg	41 Craig Anderson

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (16th), Senators (31st)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (11th), Senators (12th)
Recent History vs. Senators
- Nov. 15, 2019 - Senators 2, Flyers 1 (at OTT)
- Dec. 7, 2019 - Flyers 4, Senators 3 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Senators
- Jake Voracek - 29 GP, 12 G, 15 A, 27 P
- James van Riemsdyk - 37 GP, 14 G, 16 A, 30 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere - 14 GP, 2 G, 8 A, 10 P
- Sean Couturier - 26 GP, 9 G, 9 A, 18 P
- Brian Elliott - 8 GP, 5-0-2, 1.94 GAA, .931 SV%
- Carter Hart - 2 GP, 1-1-0, 2.59 GAA, .898 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Shayne Gostisbehere needs two points to reach 200 for his career.