Flyers lose in Ottawa, 3-1

In Ottawa, Josh Norris broke a 1-1 tie to help send the Senators past the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, on Friday night.

“You’re hoping he shoots every time,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “I kind of said to him in the third period, ‘I need three shots out of you in this period.’ I don’t know what he got in the third [three shots on goal], but he started skating and I double-shifted him a bit. I thought he was real good.”

The goal came off the power play near the midway point of the third period.

“I guess I just like that area of the ice and for some reason pucks just seem to go in,” Norris said. “My job’s easy. The guys just slide me the puck and I shoot it and hope it goes in. And lately it’s been going in, so it’s a good feeling.”

Anton Forsberg made 28 saves in the Ottawa win.

Cam Atkinson was the lone striker for the Flyers.

The Senators moved to 22-34-5.

“There’s definitely a void when your captain’s not there,” Atkinson said. “But I thought the guys did a great job, especially on the bench communicating and just staying positive, like when our guy [blocked a] shot or made a play to win their 1-on-1 battle. I think we need more of that, and certainly some guys were doing that. Definitely more of that going forward.”

Nick Paul, was a healthy scratch for the Senators.

“Real hard,” Smith said of telling Paul he wasn’t in the lineup. “Nick’s obviously a guy that everyone loves and who is a huge part of the group in there. It’s part of the business and it’s an unfortunate one. It happens all around the league.”

Tim Stützle scored to give the Senators an early 1-0 lead.

“He was flying” Smith said. “He was dangerous, he checked, he worked away from the puck. I mean, that line was dangerous all night, and led by him. He had all kinds of chances. I always wish he’d shoot more because I don’t think he believes how good he can shoot it.”

The Flyers dropped to 19-31-11.

Claude Giroux did not ice for the Flyers ahead of the trade deadline.

“And now some other people get some opportunities,” Flyers coach Mike Yeo said. “I’m not going to blame [the loss] on that by any means. It’s something that people are going to have to figure out. They’re going to have to embrace it. The bottom line is, if you’re a gamer, you want those situations, you want those minutes, you want those opportunities.”

Ottawa’s Alex Formenton iced the win with a shorthanded goal in an empty-net.

Martin Jones made 33 saves in the Flyers loss.

“He played great for us,” Atkinson said of Jones. “Their first couple goals were absolute snipes. He kept us in the game all night and [gave] us a chance to win. That’s what you need out of our goalies, and they’ve certainly been doing that for us as of late.”