Tkachuk, Chychrun each score twice to lead Senators over Flyers in home opener
By Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press on October 14, 2023.
OTTAWA – Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun each scored twice, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in their home opener on Saturday afternoon. Anton Forsberg made 19 saves and Jake Sanderson also scored to send the crowd of 20,011 home happy. The Senators picked up their first win of the 2023-24 campaign after dropping their season opener in Carolina 5-3 on Wednesday. Travis Konecny and Cam York scored and Carter Hart stopped 26 shots for the Flyers. Philadelphia opened the season with a 4-2 win over Columbus Thursday night, but struggled to generate much against Ottawa. Ottawa took a 5-2 lead early in the third with its third power-play goal of the game, with Claude Giroux finding Tkachuk on the doorstep for his second of the contest. A pair of first-period goals by Chychrun gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Two minutes in Zack MacEwen found Chychrun to open the scoring. With the man advantage Tarasenko made a no-look pass to Chychrun in the right circle, and he beat Hart high stick side. The Flyers cut the lead in half late in the period on a two-man advantage, with Konecky picking up a rebound in front to bury his third of the season. The power play continued to reward the Senators in the second period as Sanderson beat Hart with a one-timer. The Flyers responded 18 seconds later with York taking a puck off the half wall to beat Forsberg. With 5.1 seconds remaining in the second Giroux stripped Travis Sanheim along the boards and fed Tkachuk to pick up his first of the season. Giroux was recognized before the game for hitting the 1,000-point mark last season. He spent 15 seasons with the Flyers after being drafted 22nd overall in 2006. NOTES: Josh Norris missed his second straight game. Former Flyers RW Zack MacEwen returned to the lineup after missing Ottawa’s season opener. UP NEXT: The Senators will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night, while the Flyers will host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 14, 2022. 16-15
