Flyers spoil Giroux milestone by beating Senators 2-1

OTTAWA, Ontario -- — Claude Giroux scored a milestone goal against his former team, but the Philadelphia Flyers spoiled the celebration with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night.

The game was Giroux’s first against his former team, but he doesn’t have much to boast about as the loss now has the Senators (4-7-0) mired in a five-game losing streak.

Giroux’s goal was the 300th of his career. He has now scored a goal against every team in the NHL.

The former Flyers captain said he was not happy about the loss, “but I’ll wake up tomorrow and it is what it is.”

“We’re in a little hole, but I’ve been in bigger holes before and come out of it, so right now I’m very frustrated, but not worried about it," Giroux said.

Facing off against their former captain was a little odd, but also satisfying for the Flyers to come out with a win.

“To be honest, I’ve been in those situations before,” said Kevin Hayes. "(Giroux) is a close friend of mine, it might be a little different for him, but it’s not really for me. I’m playing for the Flyers. That’s the team I want to win.”

Zack MacEwen’s second-period goal held up as the winner, while Kevin Hayes also scored for the Flyers (6-3-2). Carter Hart was solid stopping 31 shots.

Giroux scored the lone goal for the Senators, while Cam Talbot, making his first start for the Senators, made 26 saves.

Trailing 2-1 in the third, Ottawa had a chance for the equalizer after Travis Sanheim was called for interference on Giroux at the 13-minute mark, but failed to capitalize on the power play.

The Senators will look at the second period as a missed opportunity. Ottawa had three power plays and failed to take advantage or create many scoring chances.

The Flyers broke the 1-1 tie with just under two minutes remaining in the second period when Ottawa got hemmed in its own end. MacEwen grabbed a loose puck and wristed it past Talbot.

The lead didn’t last long as the Flyers evened the score with a power-play goal as Hayes tipped a Tony DeAngelo shot.

“It comes down to special teams” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “They score on their power play and we go 0-for-5. The game’s on the line and you get a power play in the third period. We’ve got to find a way to put it in.”

INTERESTING FACT

Hart is good friends with Senators’ netminder Talbot. In the past, they’ve trained together and Talbot was a mentor of sorts to Hart when the latter was in the early stages of his career. Talbot and Hart were teammates for a brief period with the Flyers during the 2018-19 season.

NOTES

The Senators recalled D Jacob Bernard-Docker, but he was not inserted in the lineup. ... Philadelphia has allowed the opposition to score first in nine of its 11 games. ... This was the first of three meetings between the two teams.

UP NEXT

Philadelphia: Host St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Ottawa: Host Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

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