Time: Thursday, Nov 12, 2009 at 7:00 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America

Last 10 matches: Senators 5-3-2; Flyers 6-3-1
Ottawa defenseman Anton Volchenkov has missed the past five games after dislocating his elbow Oct. 28 against Florida. Philadelphia’s Simon Gagne had hernias surgery on Nov. 3 and will miss the next 6-8 weeks. Van Riemsdyk suffered a broken pinkie that split open when he was hit by a shot from Carter on Saturday against St. Louis. It took 20 stitches, but he’s going to try to play. Briere suffered a right quadriceps injury Oct. 27, then had the flu and is likely to return Thursday. Defenseman Ryan Parent has played only part of one of the past eight games because of a groin injury. He’s doubtful for Thursday. The bad news, he had a groin injury at the end of last season. Defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen suffered a concussion Saturday and is likely to be held out a week, in accord with the team’s head-injury guidelines. Briere, Tollefsen, Parent and van Riemsdyk all practiced Tuesday.This is the first meeting of these teams this season. They play again in Philadelphia on Dec. 10. The Flyers visit Ottawa on Jan. 3, their first game after the Winter Classic, and again on March 23. Ottawa won three of four games last season, including a shootout victory at Philadelphia in their last meeting on April 4. The Flyers rank sixth in the Eastern Conference and the Senators are seventh.
The Senators are stumbling despite being mostly healthy while Philadelphia is flying high, winning four in a row despite having five regulars out of the lineup.
This is the first time the Senators will oppose Flyers goalie Ray Emery, who took them to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, then struggled with emotional problems and played last season in Russia. Emery, who attended Ottawa center Jason Spezza’s wedding last summer, is 9-3-1, ranks 10th with a 2.27 goals-against average and is tied for eighth with a .922 save percentage.
Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire, the No. 8 pick in the 2001 Entry Draft who came from Columbus in March, is 6-4-1, ranks 20th with a 2.71 GAA and has a .898 save percentage.
Ottawa leads the NHL in misconducts and average penalty minutes per game. Coach Clouston told them to shut up and play after Saturday’s come-from-ahead loss to New Jersey, when the Senators had 39 PIMs, including two misconducts, and the Devils got all three goals on power plays.
The standings don’t reflect it but the Flyers are the sixth-best team in the NHL, yet fourth in their division. They rank 14th in points but are sixth with a .679 percentage of points earned per game. No team has played fewer than the Flyers’ 14 games. They lead the NHL by scoring on 26.6 percent of their power plays, are second with 3.57 goals per game and 34.4 shots per game, fifth in outscoring teams with 1.27-to-1 ratio in 5-on-5 play. They are also ninth-best in allowing only 2.57 goals per game. They Flyers are good, and hot right now. Goal’s highlights, results and more will be on site, as soon as posible.