Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone each recorded a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers notched their first win of the season Saturday with a 3-1 home victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Dan Vladar made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which went 0-6-3 in its first nine contests — the worst start to a season in franchise history. The Flyers had not scored more than two goals in a game until Trevor Zegras’ empty-netter sealed the game in the waning seconds.
Ottawa netminder Linus Ullmark, who came into the contest at 6-0-0 on the year, suffered his first loss despite a steady 25-save effort. Drake Batherson tallied the only goal for the Senators.
Neither team scored in the first period, although Ottawa’s Dylan Cozens had a mini-breakaway opportunity that ended with the puck in Vladar’s glove. The Flyers outshot the Senators 14-8 in the period — a step forward for a Philadelphia team that has been outshot badly this season.
Batherson opened the scoring at 5:55 of the second period with his fourth goal of the campaign. Claude Giroux carried the puck on a 2-on-1 and waited until the right moment to feed across to Batherson for the one-timer.
About three minutes later, Philadelphia drew even on a nifty setup by Michkov, who found Martone driving to the net for a well-timed redirection.
The score remained 1-1 until Michkov and Martone teamed up for the go-ahead tally late in the middle session. Martone created the opportunity on the power play, as his blast from the left circle led to a rebound that Michkov rammed home for a 2-1 edge.
Ottawa had two good scoring chances early in the third. Nikolas Matinpalo found some space and took a hard shot that knocked off Vladar’s mask. Shortly thereafter, Warren Foegele banged a rebound off the post from close range.
With just over five minutes left, Philadelphia’s Tyson Foerster was whistled for delay of game. Ottawa had a couple of quality scoring chances on the ensuing power play, but Vladar held firm.
The Senators pulled Ullmark with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining. They threatened a bit down the stretch but could not get the equalizer, leading to Zegras’ empty-netter with 14 seconds left.