Carter Yakemchuk‘s power-play blast with 6:59 remaining propelled the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Senators head coach Travis called it “a hard-fought game,” crediting both teams for their efforts, especially this early into the season.
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“That was a hard-fought game. It was tight. One of those games were early in the year where there was a lot of intensity in the game. You knew Philly was going to play a hell of a game tonight. I thought they did. It was just a greasy game,” noted Green.
Senators Game Summary
While the Flyers came out strong to open the game, outshooting Ottawa 6-1 early, it was the Senators scoring first.
Tyler Kleven’s point shot glanced in off former Philadelphia forward Nick Cousins 10:14 into the Senators sold-out home opener.
Flyers Matvei Michkov tied the game at one 7:46 into the second period on a strange one. Trevor Zegras’ shot got through the wickets of Senators goalie Linus Ullmark. Seeing the puck behind Ullmark, Michkov quickly swatted the puck into the net.
Officials originally thought Ullmark had the puck between his pads and whistled the play dead. However, since the puck actually squeaked through the Senators goaltender, the goal was counted due to “continuation.”
After the game see-sawed back and forth, playing in his first game after signing a contract with Philadelphia Wednesday, Michael Bunting was called for hooking behind the Senators net.
Yakemchuk made the Flyers pay. The 21-year-old one-timed another former Flyer, Claude Giroux’s feed past Philadelphia goalie Joseph Woll. It was the Senators rookie’s second NHL goal.
The victory was Ottawa’s third in four games this season, but it wasn’t without consequence. Senators newcomer William Eklund appeared to sustain a debilitating injury when his left ankle gave way during a collision with Flyers d-man Simon Benoit early in the opening period.
Losing Eklund for any length of time will be a blow to the Senators offense. The speedy forward was coming off a solid one-goal, one-assist performance in Detroit Tuesday and was expected to add to Ottawa’s offense.
Quick Thoughts
The game itself appeared to be disjointed; early-season lack of chemistry seemed abundantly clear. The schedule hasn’t been on the Senators side either. Thursday marked Ottawa’s third outing in four nights and fourth in six. This came after only starting their 2026-27 campaign five days after the puck was dropped to open the season on September 29. With upcoming contests Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the Senators will have played seven games in 11 days.
Special teams were key.
Flyers Michkov managed to net a power play marker in one of Philadelphia’s four power plays. But it was the Senators penalty kill that came up strong. With the Flyers holding a 27-second two-man advantage in the third period, it was Ottawa that possessed the best scoring opportunity. Michael Amadio failed to beat Woll on a breakaway.
Until Yakemchuk’s bomb, the Senators PP was 0 for 4 on the night and 1 for 17 in the early going.
With the club’s top d-pair Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub remaining out of the lineup, Yakemchuk on this night and Hoyt Stanley helped fill the void.
Getting the call around noon, Stanley made his NHL regular season debut after driving from Belleville to Ottawa Thursday, stopping at a Metro grocery store to pick up a hot meal along the way.
The Senators 2023 fourth-round selection didn’t look out of place in his 10:21 of ice time.
Green told Hockey Hot Stove, Stanley’s recall was “last minute.”
“(It was a) kind of a surprise game that he had to play, but he didn’t look out of place. Found his way around the rink. Played well, made hard plays. I haven’t seen his minutes yet, but you know when you don’t notice a guy a lot for a guy’s first game on the back end, he’s probably had a pretty good night.”
Stanley said postgame his experience was “hard to digest” given that it was the Senators home-opener, but he took his coaches advice to heart.
“Like the first few shifts, coaches kind of came up to me and just said, “Play your game, play hard, simple. Don’t be too nervous. Easier said than done. So it was kind of yeah, naturally, first few shifts kind of not the best, kind of get them out of the way and then felt a little more comfortable throughout the game. And cool to see the team team win, be a part of it.”
The Senators head coach gave credit to assistant Ben Sexton for keeping Yakemchuk on Ottawa’s power play unit, especially after the team was 0 for 4 in opportunities.
Of Yakemchuk, Green explained, “He’s a little more comfortable. He’s gotten a little better. He’s worked hard over the summer. He’s still young. Still going to have nights where he might not be at his best. That’s just a young guy trying to make sure that he’s finding his game, yo be honest, I thought tonight was one of them. You know, he fumbled the puck a few times on the power play. He probably wasn’t quite at his best, but you know sometimes you just got to stick with those guys a little bit, and they’re going to have some nights where they’re really good. They’re going to have some nights where they’re not great. But if you know you’ve got a special talent, we hope that it comes through. And I think tonight was a great example of that.”
After a final minute of chaos where Dylan Cozens laid out to save a sure goal and Shane Pinto blocked another, the Senators were able to pull out the win. Once again Linus Ullmark stood tall, stopping 28 of 29 Flyers shots.
Ullmark, generally a slow starter is a perfect 3-0-0, dropping his goals against average to a miniscule 1.13 to go along with a .956 save percentage.
Ottawa plays next on Saturday at home versus the Nashville Predators who are coming off a 5-2 win over Montreal.
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