Yakemchuk’s Late Power-Play Goal Lifts Senators Past Winless Flyers 2-1

Carter Yakemchuk scored a power-play goal with 6:59 remaining and the Ottawa Senators held on to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre, in the Senators’ home opener. Yakemchuk’s first goal of the season, and his first regular-season NHL goal after debuting in the playoffs last spring, broke a 1-1 tie when former Flyers captain Claude Giroux set up his one-timer from the blue line through traffic and past Joseph Woll. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for Ottawa, which improved to 3-1-0; Woll stopped 24 shots for Philadelphia, which fell to 0-3-2 and remains without a win through five games. Nick Cousins opened the scoring midway through the first period, tipping a Tyler Kleven shot that ricocheted off a Philadelphia forward and Cousins himself before finding the net, just after a penalty expired. Ottawa had four power-play opportunities in the first period alone and managed only five shots with the man advantage, a continuing frustration: the Senators finished 1-for-5 on the night and are 2-for-18 on the season, a weakness the reports from the game linked to the absence of Jake Sanderson from the lineup. Philadelphia tied the game at 7:46 of the second period on its own power play, its first power-play goal of the season. Trevor Zegras shot, Ullmark appeared to have it stopped, but the puck trickled through his pads and Matvei Michkov slid it across the goal line just as the whistle blew. Woll then made a fine glove save on Fabian Zetterlund to keep the game level into the third. The Flyers had a power play near the midpoint of the third, including 27 seconds of five-on-three, yet the best chance of it belonged to Ottawa, Michael Amadio denied by Woll on a breakaway. Minutes later, Michael Bunting, making his Flyers debut after signing on Tuesday, was called for hooking, and Yakemchuk converted late in the ensuing power play. Philadelphia controlled the final two minutes with an extra skater but could not solve Ullmark, with Kleven blocking two shots in the last minute to protect the win. Ottawa defenceman Hoyt Stanley made his NHL debut. One concern for the Senators: William Eklund left in the first period after being hit against the boards by Simon Benoit, needed help off the ice favouring his left leg, and did not return. For Philadelphia, the performance was paradoxically encouraging. After allowing at least 36 shots in each of its previous four games, it held Ottawa to 26, moved the puck more crisply on the power play, and by several accounts played its best game of the season, and still lost, extending a winless start that now reads five games. Three games in four nights await the Flyers, starting Saturday in Boston, while Ottawa hosts Nashville the same night. Early seasons turn on games exactly like this one: a home opener won by a rookie defenceman’s first goal, a visiting team insisting the process is improving. Both can be true, and only one of them shows in the standings.