The second game of the 2023-24 season is in the books and boy oh boy was it a drastically different game than the hockey the boys played just days ago. The Ottawa Senators had their first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon in a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. I know it's only the second game of the season, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t have been a three-goal deficit. The Flyers kept it close for the majority of the first two periods until Brady Tkachuk netted the Senators fourth goal with 19:54 on the clock, sealing the Flyers fate.

There were too many mistakes such as missed passes and turnovers. In addition, there was definitely not enough defense around the net for Carter Hart, who had 26 saves on 31 shots. The momentum appeared to be there from time to time, but the orange and black most certainly lacked puck control. When the Flyers finally gained control of the puck the mistakes kept coming and it appeared that the boys could not follow through and capitalize on their plays.

Another huge factor in Saturday’s demise is the power play and our inability to kill penalties. A major difference in the outcome, Ottawa was three for seven on the power play while Philadelphia was one for six.

Flyers coach John Tortorella said his team was outplayed in almost every capacity. “We played a much more skilled team,” “We didn’t really give ourselves a chance with taking that many penalties.” “They had the puck most of the night. We can’t sit in the box that much against a skilled team like that.” “Our penalty kill, our power play our offense, our defense, we were outplayed in all categories. We’ll look at the tape, dust ourselves off and get ready for our home-opener game on Tuesday.”

The Philadelphia Flyers are set to kick off their 2023-24 season home opener tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks and all fans in attendance will receive A NEW ERA OF ORANGE Shirt! The two teams last met February 18, 2022, and resulted in a 6-2 victory over the Flyers. Hopefully playing on home ice, some rest and al of the new amenities at the Wells Fargo Center will have the boys on their A-game.

If you are attending the home opener, please remember that the starting time has changed to 6pm and gates at the WFC will open at 3pm due to multiple events in the area.

-Rebecca McCormick- Olde City Sports Network