Flyers 4, Senators 2
OTTAWA -- The Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to three games by defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Winger Wayne Simmonds scored the winner late in the second period, and center Sean Couturier iced it with an empty-netter 1:45 from the final buzzer. Defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Evgeny Medvedev had the Flyers' other goals.
Center Zack Smith and winger Mike Hoffman replied for the Senators, who lost for the second time in a row.
Senators goalie Craig Anderson made 29 saves, while Flyers goalie Steve Mason turned aside 23 shots.
The Senators lost winger Milan Michalek to an upper-body injury in the second period, and center Mika Zibanejad went out when he was hit in the head by Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas in the third.
Simmonds broke a 2-2 tie with 3:25 remaining in the second. Capitalizing on a turnover by Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, Simmonds broke down ice and was on a three-on-one when he banged in his own rebound for his sixth of the season.
Earlier in the middle period, Medvedev scored his first NHL goal with a wrist shot from the point as a penalty to Michalek expired. Only 1:06 later, Hoffman scored his sixth goal in the last five games when he relayed a pass from Senators winger Bobby Ryan behind Mason.
Gostisbehere opened the scoring with his fourth goal in nine games at 14:27 of the first period. Gostisbehere took a pass from center Claude Giroux, took a stride in from the blue line and wired a shot high past Anderson.
Just under three minutes later, Smith evened the count off a setup by Senators defenseman Cody Ceci. The goal was the sixth of the season for Smith, who entered the night with a 31.3 shooting percentage that was tops in the NHL among players to have skated in at least 15 games.
NOTES: Senators D Patrick Wiercioch, who has recovered from a whiplash he sustained in a Nov. 19 collision with Columbus C Nick Foligno, was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. Senators LW Colin Greening was the other healthy scratch. ... Senators G Craig Anderson made his eighth consecutive start while Senators G Andrew Hammond recovers from a concussion. ... Flyers D Nick Schultz missed his first game with an upper-body injury. ... Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier was a healthy scratch. ... Heading into the game, the Flyers had killed off 19 consecutive short-handed situations. It was the team's best penalty-killing streak since a run of 26 in a row from December 2013 into January 2014.