Couturier leads Flyers past Senators for 3rd straight win
OTTAWA, Ontario - Sean Couturier had an empty-net goal and two assists, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere and Evgeny Medvedev also scored for the Flyers in their third straight win. Steve Mason had 23 saves.
Zach Smith and Mike Hoffman scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson made 29 saves. The Senators have dropped two straight after winning four in a row.
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It was the second meeting in 10 days between the clubs, both in Ottawa. The Senators won the first meeting 4-0 on Nov. 21 despite being outshot 36-31.
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The teams traded first-period goals less than three minutes apart, with the Flyers jumping in front at 14:27 on Gostisbehere's fourth goal of the season, only to be followed by Smith's tying score at 17:17.
After taking a pass from Claude Giroux at the top of the left faceoff circle, Gostisbehere thought about shooting but instead took advantage of some space and moved toward the bottom of the circle before firing a shot over the shoulder of Anderson.
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Minutes later, Luke Schenn tried to wrap the puck around the boards behind his net and out of the zone but it was intercepted 10 feet inside the blue line by Cody Ceci, who fed Smith for a one-timer.
The Flyers took a 3-2 lead after two periods on goals from Medvedev and Simmonds.
Medvedev scored just as a Flyers power play came to an end. After Hoffman tied it again at 4:20, the teams played scoreless hockey for 12 minutes before Simmonds scored at 16:35, giving the Flyers their third one-goal lead of the game.
NOTES: Senators forward Curtis Lazar hasn't scored in his past nine games. ... The Senators and Flyers won't meet again until April.