Senators ground Flyers

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In Ottawa, the Senators got a 26-save effort from  Anders Nilsson and defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 on Friday.

Both Sens goals came in the middle frame and the defense stood tall in the third with the Flyers skating a four-minute power play in the thi9rd period.

“The Flyers came out with a really good start and pushed us back the first few minutes there,” Nilsson said. “We got down a goal, but since then, I thought we took over the game and we started to work harder and skate more and play more physical, and we took over the game because of it.”

Tyler Pitlick potted a goal in the first period to give the Flyers the early 1-0 lead.

“[The Senators] kept skating. They kind of spread the ice, and they were attacking with a lot of speed,” Jakub Voracek said. “We were a little bit slow, and we came up short.”

Tyler Ennis and Filip Chlapik struck in the middle frame to erase the one-goal deficit.

“It’s been the best part of our game probably all year, to be honest,” Senators head coach D.J. Smith said of the penalty kill. “Those four [defensemen] back there are really, really competitive on the penalty kill. I thought Connor Brown, tonight, was exceptional on the penalty kill. Every guy was, but especially him. I thought he had great legs.”

The Senators are 4-1-0 in their last five.

“My job is to stop the puck no matter if it’s the first minute of the game or the last four minutes or if we’re on the [penalty kill] or whatever it is,” Nilsson  said. “My mindset was just trying to stop the puck, and I felt pretty comfortable with the penalty kill because I think they had an outstanding game.”

[WATCH: All Flyers vs. Senators highlights]

Carter Hart made 17 saves in the loss.

“We came ready to play. Our first period was good,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “Our inability to score the second goal, when we had a couple of good looks, and their ability in the second period to win some 1-on-1 battles and to make some plays. They made a lot more plays than we did in that second period.”