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Flyers shoot for season sweep of Sens

Dec 9, 2013 - 4:18 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will aim for their third win of the season against the Ottawa Senators, as the Eastern Conference combatants complete their 2013-14 season series in Monday's clash at Canadian Tire Center.

Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19.

The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canada's capital city.

Ottawa enters Monday's season-series finale against the Flyers having lost two straight and four of its last five games. The Senators were able to record a point in their most recent outing, dropping Saturday's shootout decision against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

James van Riemsdyk scored 97 seconds into the game and again in a shootout to help the Maple Leafs notch the 4-3 win. It was Toronto's first road win since Oct. 30, ending a seven-game slide as the guest.

Ottawa did well to earn a point on Saturday, as the Senators rallied from a 3-1 deficit with third-period goals by Erik Condra and Erik Karlsson. However, Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer stopped Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek in the shootout.

Van Riemsdyk beat Craig Anderson with a backhand and Mason Raymond slipped a shot past the Ottawa goalie's glove to give the Maple Leafs the extra point.

Clarke MacArthur also scored for the Senators, who fell to 3-7-1 in their last 11 games.

"We fell a little short tonight, but there was a lot of positive for us," said MacArthur. "They found a way to score on some opportunities, but I think we outplayed them here."

Ottawa suffered its fifth straight loss on home ice and fell to 4-8-3 this season at Canadian Tire Centre.

The Flyers, meanwhile, lost for the second time in three games Saturday afternoon in Dallas and are now 2-2-0 on a six-game road trip that is set to end Wednesday at Chicago. All told, Philadelphia is 6-7-2 as the visiting team this season.

Philly was slammed 5-1 by the Stars on Saturday, as Tyler Seguin recorded a natural hat trick in the second period to lead the hosts to the easy win at American Airlines Center.

Andrej Meszaros provided the sole offense for the Flyers, who played without co-leading goal scorer Vincent Lecavalier for the third straight time. On Sunday, the Flyers announced Lecavalier will miss the next 3-to-4 weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his lower back.

Although Lecavalier has posted a solid 14 points on nine goals and five assists in his first season as a Flyer, he's also been plagued by injuries. The 33-year-old center has battled various ailments while playing in just 22 of Philadelphia's 29 games so far in 2013-14.

"I would say we're probably going to get by as is," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said of the injury situation. "(Lecavalier) does play a big role on our team. It's hard to go out and replace a guy like that. You just have to hope other guys pick it up. There's opportunity for other guys to perform now."

Steve Mason allowed four goals on 26 shots in Saturday's loss and was pulled after the second period. It was the first time the former Columbus goaltender had surrendered more than three goals since arriving in Philly in a trade with the Blue Jackets last season. Ray Emery finished with seven saves in the final 20 minutes.

"There were some mistakes we did against their top players and they put it in the back of the net," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said after the loss in Dallas. "We can't be making those mistakes."

Mason could get the start again on Monday and is sporting a 5-2-0 record and a 1.71 goals against average in seven career games against the Senators. Emery, a former Senator, is 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA in two lifetime tests against his old club.

In addition to Lecavalier, the Flyers also could be without defenseman Kimmo Timonen on Monday. The veteran blueliner left Saturday's game with an upper- body injury and did not return. He is questionable for tonight's contest.