Andrew Hammond continued his remarkable play for the Ottawa Senators. Hammond made 34 saves. Mark Stone scored his 25th and 26th goals of the year as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. The win clinched a playoff berth for the Senators.
It took the Senators just six minutes to get the game's first goal. Mark Stone netted his 25th of the season on the power play for the 1-0 lead.
The play started with Steve Mason playing a puck at the side of the net and rather than cover it up he chose to try and play it. Clarke MacArthur stole it and it found it's way to Stone who flipped it into the empty net.
The Flyers would get their chance on the power play at 13:28 when Mark Borowiecki went to the box for cross checking. The Flyers had some decent pressure but were unable to find the back of the net.
Andrew Hammond stopped all 14 shots he faced in the opening twenty minutes to preserve the 1-0 lead.
The Flyers were able to tie the game in the very early stages of the second. Matt Read scored his eighth of the season just 1:23 in. Brayden Schenn made a beautiful pass across the goal mouth to Read who hammered it into the net.
The score would remain that way till the 16:18 mark when Jean-Gabriel Pageau put Ottawa ahead 2-1. Pageau scored his 10th of the season by roofing a rebound over Mason's shoulder. The goal came just after the Flyers were able to kill off a penalty.
Hammond had 29 saves on 30 shots through the first two periods.
The Senators closed things down in third after allowing 30 shots through the first 40 minutes. The Senators then extended their lead at 11:49
Mark Stone netted his second of the game and 26th of the season. Stone picked Jakub Voracek's pocket in front of Mason and went in alone and beat the Flyer goalie. The goal was unassisted.
Hammond shut the door the rest of the way. Hammond made 34 saves for his 20th win of the year. Mason made 19 saves in the loss.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
