Flyers vs. Senators: How To Watch, Lineups, Keys to the Game

After the way the first four games of the season have gone, you suppose it can't get any worse. Of course, the Philadelphia Flyers are still not only without a win this season, but without any resemblance of a competent game so far.

Each game becomes another chance to try to shift the narrative, to right the ship, and get back on course for following up a successful season with one that appears to be anything but so far. They take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at 7 PM to continue a three-game road trip.

How to Watch

Time: 7 PM
Location: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: Rock 104.1 and the Rock 104.1 Free Mobile App
Streaming: ESPN+

Projected Flyers Lines vs. Senators

Scratches: Garrett Wilson

Injury & Roster Updates

Lineup Updates: The Flyers remain without Rasmus Ristolainen due to injury. Michael Bunting comes into the lineup to make his Flyers debut after being signed on Tuesday.
Starting Goalie: Joseph Woll gets the start for the Flyers. Woll has a pair of overtime losses to start the season, but has been excellent making 78 saves on 84 shots in his two starts.
Injuries
- Rasmus Ristolainen: upper-body injury, day-to-day
- Nikita Grebenkin: upper-body injury, placed on IR on Oct. 5.

Opponent Snapshot: Ottawa Senators

Senators Projected Lineup vs. Flyers

27 William Eklund - 18 Tim Stutzle - 19 Drake Batherson
71 Ridly Greig - 24 Dylan Cozens - 20 Fabian Zetterlund
22 Michael Amadio - 12 Shane Pinto - 28 Claude Giroux
37 Warren Foegele - 34 Stephen Halliday - 21 Nick Cousins

72 Thomas Chabot - 10 Jordan Spence
43 Tyler Kleven - 26 Carter Yakemchuk
5 Cameron Crotty - 33 Nikolas Matinpalo

35 Linus Ullmark
30 Samuel Ersson

Special Teams
- Power Play: 7.7% (25th)
- Penalty Kill: 76.9% (18th)
Who’s hot?: Tim Stutzle is off to a hot start with three goals and six points in three games. Drake Batherson and Michael Amadio each have two goals and three points.
Who’s in net?: Linus Ullmark gets the start for the Senators. Ullmark picked up the win in his last start on Monday despite leaving the game after two periods with an injury. He stopped all 10 shots he faced in two periods on Monday, and made 27 saves on 29 shots in a season-opening win over Toronto on Saturday.
Injuries: Jake Sanderson left the game on Saturday and has not played in the last two games with a lower-body injury. Andre Burakovsky is on IR with an upper-body injury. Artem Zub is on IR with a knee injury.

Keys to the Game

More Shots: With a historic shot differential through four games, the Flyers need to start getting more pucks to the net and creating less of a gap between the them and the opposition.
Better Compete: The head coach didn't mince words after Monday's game in calling out the compete level. That's where any success has to start for the Flyers, their work ethic and willingness to win battles.
Just Get A Win: With everything that's gone wrong through four games, you get the sense that just getting a win would be a weight off the team's shoulders, no matter how it looks.

By the Numbers

The Flyers are one of three teams in the NHL currently without a win. The Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames are the other two.
Through four games, the Flyers have been out-shot, 158-77. The minus-81 shot differential is the second-worst four-game start since the 1959-60 NHL season.
Entering play on Thursday, there are 30 players in the NHL with five points or more, as many goals as the Flyers have scored in four games this season. Three players — Evan Bouchard (6), Nick Schmaltz (5), and Kyle Connor (5) — have scored as many goals this season as the Flyers have as a team.

Quotable

"We've had a bad 10 days. What do you do to turn the tide? You need more energy. We talked about one-on-one battles, we talked about getting pucks to the net, and then defending. But you can't harp on it every day. You can't give these guys 10 different things, their brain will be fried. So we just try a couple of points here and there the last couple of days and just get back to our base." - Rick Tocchet
"It's been a long summer to say the least. Definitely a weird one. Wasn't anticipating how it unfolded. I got the call pretty much the day I signed to get this opportunity. I didn't think twice. I'm excited to become a Flyer. I feel like I can come in and help this team with some energy, with some offense, and a little bit of grit on that side too." - Michael Bunting

X-Factors

Trevor Zegras: You could say this about almost everybody on the roster, but it's been a slow start for Trevor Zegras, fresh off his new contract this offseason. He's one of the many that need to start to pick up their game and get going to help the Flyers get out of this rough start.
Tim Stutzle: Already off to a hot start this season, Stutzle has really piled on the points against the Flyers over the years. In 15 career games, Stutzle has 11 goals and 19 points against the Flyers.