*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
If nothing else happened, it was at least Claude Giroux's day. Giroux tallied two assists, Alex DeBrincat added a pair of goals, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-1 victory on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.
After playing for the Flyers from 2007 until the trade deadline this past season, including 10 seasons as captain, Giroux made his first return to Philadelphia as part of the Senators. He received a video tribute from the team and a long ovation from the crowd, honoring Giroux's time in Philadelphia.
Giroux said of his return that "The fans here, I wasn't too sure what to expect, but they treated me well. So many memories in this building. That video, I wish they showed that video at the end of the game because they showed that video and then had to go for a shift right away, so that was tough. But it's part of the game. You've got to be professional and just do your job."
Starting the scoring for the Flyers was Kevin Hayes, who scored his 3rd goal of the season 6:05 into the opening period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead, with assists from Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny. Thomas Chabot then scored for the Senators 14:28 into the period to tie the game 1-1 on his 3rd goal of the season.
The only goal of the second period came courtesy of DeBrincat, who scored a power play goal with 49 seconds left in the period to make it a 2-1 Senators lead. On the power play 6:52 into the 3rd period, DeBrincat scored his second goal of the night to make it a 3-1 game. Tim Stutzle sealed the win with an empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final score.
DeBrincat, who picked up his first two goal game with Ottawa, said after the game that "It's nice to see the puck go in the net. Frustrating couple games before, it wasn't going in, so it's nice to get those in and hopefully keep going."
Starting in goal for the Senators was Cam Talbot, who picked up the win with a stellar performance. Talbot saved all but one of the 38 shots the Flyers sent at him, recording a .974 save percentage as his record improved to 1-2-0 after returning from injury.
Drawing the start opposite Talbot was Philadelphia's Carter Hart, who got stuck with the loss. Hart turned aside 23 out of the 26 shots on goal the Senators had, which was good for a .885 save percentage as his record dropped to 6-2-2 to start the year.
Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella said after the game that "You can't win in the National Hockey League when you're playing against two opponents, the opponent themselves and us. We did so many good things, but then we imploded. Just unnecessary penalties."
Up next, the Flyers are back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Stars, with Felix Sandstrom starting the second half of a back to back. Anton Forsberg is the probable starter for the Senators when they host the New York Islanders on Monday night.
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