Senators' Andre Burakovsky a total non-factor again in loss to Flyers

Someone had to lose to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers at some point, apparently.

Drake Batherson scored and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves for the Ottawa Senators (6-3-0) in a 3-1 loss against the Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Coach Travis Green admitted post-game that several of his players “weren’t very good” against Philadelphia. A couple of those cases are rather obvious.

No time to waste. Let’s get to grading.

Burakovsky started this game out with encouraging energy, backchecking to get a stick lift on Trevor Zegras at the red line and poking the puck back to a defenceman early in the first. His effort was also noticeably elevated in board battles during the opening 20 minutes. Though, the same offensive problems plaguing him in his first four games persisted, as he failed to make tape-to-tape passes and directed nothing at the net. Burakovsky had two turnovers in the span of eight seconds on one shift in the second, getting bullied by Simon Benoit in the offensive zone, and then, on the neutral zone regroup, throwing the puck right back to Philly. He had three shifts in the third and didn’t play the final 11:40. Green cannot rely on him right now.

Amadio’s strong stick and hockey IQ typically compensate for his below average speed — he’s proficient in shielding pucks and dishing them off to teammates when the pressure mounts — but not against Philadelphia. Gifted the puck from a Flyers defenceman in the centre of the slot in the second, Amadio froze and had it knocked away. Later in the shift, he forced a cross-ice pass upon entry into the ‘O’ zone that was easily intercepted and taken the other way. Amadio’s ice time has dipped considerably the past week. He began the 2026-27 campaign with more than 15 minutes in each of his first six games, but he hasn’t hit that mark in each of the past three contests, allotted 11:54 on Saturday.

Stützle had his fair share of gaffs with the puck, but he almost always redeemed himself by the end of the shift. Moving up ice in the second, he got trapped along the wall, and instead of just chipping it forward, Stützle reversed into the defensive zone under duress, promptly losing the puck. Moments later, he made a brilliant play on a loose puck, slapping it with one hand off the boards, around a pinching Travis Sanheim and up to Claude Giroux, who skated in on a 2-on-1 with Batherson for the 1-0 goal. Stützle drew a hold and had four hits in 23:03.

After almost costing the Senators points against the New York Islanders on Thursday with the number of scoring chances he booted, Batherson broke through against Philly for his fourth goal of the season, one-timing a pass from Giroux on a rush. Batherson got numerous shots off in tightly contested areas, leading the team with seven attempts. Taking a centring feed from Stützle with his back facing the net, Batherson whacked the puck between his legs to get it on goal in the first. And after Tyson Foerster blocked his shot on a later power play, Batherson found it in the forward’s feet and ripped another wrister.

Halliday meshed well with the top line again. Though he was demoted to the second trio midway through the game, one could infer that it had more to do with getting Burakovsky and Dylan Cozens going. Halliday read the play well, anticipating where rims, dump-ins and passes would end up, taking the quickest route into puck battles. One of Ottawa’s best even-strength chances in the first started with Halliday putting in ample work to win possession in the ‘O’ zone. He picked up the puck in his own end, sped through the neutral zone by chipping it around Nick Seeler at the red line, and hounded Travis Sanheim as he went back for the puck, throwing a hit to remove the defenceman from the play before Batherson and Stützle arrived on scene. Halliday had four shots, and three of them were glorious chances at the goal mouth.

Greig slid on one knee to block a Zegras shot on the penalty kill in the first. He took a pass in the neutral zone with speed in the second, busted around Oliver Bonk and cut to the crease but missed with a shot in tight. He was decent, playing 15:34 and winning half of his faceoffs.

Cozens continues to pepper goalies with wristers from the middle of the ice — five of his six shot attempts came from between the hashmarks up and down the slot — but he simply needs to pot one. Dan Vladar robbed him on a partial break in the first. After nearly scoring 30 goals last season, he is one of two forwards on the team to have zero tallies through nine games.

Zetterlund got off a couple of good wristers, one on a solo mission in the third, but none of his shots hit the net. He was on the receiving end of a few crunchy hits and played 13:29.

Pinto saved a sure goal on the kill in the first, tracking back to cover Michael Bunting crashing the net from the left flank. Because of his foresight, Pinto was in an advantageous spot to get his blade on Porter Martone’s shot-for-rebound before Bunting could. Pinto had three shot attempts, once being shut down by Vladar on a short-side snap shot in close. He had two blocks and two hits in 18:37.

Leading a 2-on-1 in the second, Giroux sent a filthy saucer pass over Bonk’s blade, placing the puck in the perfect spot for Batherson to hammer it without having to adjust his body at all. Giroux went 7-for-8 in draws.

Foegele did something impactful with his speed and tenacity nearly every shift. He sprinted to the point to disrupt Jamie Drysdale in the first, forcing a turnover with the help of a bouncing puck and beating the defenceman cleanly up ice to get a quick shot off on a partial break. He had a huge block in the middle of the slot after a Thomas Chabot giveaway created havoc in the ‘D’ zone in the second. Foegele hit the post jamming away at a Stützle rebound at the edge of the crease in the third and should’ve drawn a high-stick a bit later. When Zetterlund got buried by David Jiricek at the Sens’ blue line, Foegele sped in to send the Flyers defenceman flying. He was everywhere. It was a compelling 13:27 of ice time.

Cousins played a team-low 8:42, but there was one particularly impressive shift in the second where he tracked low in the defensive zone to win a battle before initiating a clean breakout. At the other end, Cousins covered for a pinching blue liner, making a good play to keep the puck in and executing a couple of crisp D-to-D passes. Perhaps he was a puck-moving defenceman in another life.

A mediocre game ended in injury for Chabot, who didn’t return for the third period due to an upper-body ailment. He had been skating with a real purpose. On one play in the second, Chabot recognized Batherson had broken his stick as the Senators transitioned, so he raced up ice to create an odd-man rush with Halliday. In his own end, Chabot didn’t take care off the puck enough. Retreating with Christian Dvorak closing in on him later in the frame, Chabot couldn’t shake the pursuit and whiffed on a pass, turning the puck over deep in his zone. It wouldn’t be the last time his mistake got the Senators on their heels. With a chance for a clear, Chabot swatted it directly to Martone at the point and subsequently failed to tie up Matvei Michkov on the centring pass for the tying goal.

Spence had his own difficulties with attempted outlet passes and clears, a mishandled puck in the defensive zone in the first leading to a 4-on-2 counter by the Flyers. He had a team-high four blocks in 20:18.

Coming off the extreme high of Thursday against the Isles, Zub was just OK against Philly. He had three blocks in 20:25. The next game he plays, maybe he’ll be reunited with Jake Sanderson.

Kleven’s first puck touch of the game was a careless delay-of-game penalty, flipping the puck out of play without much pressure on him at all. After that, he was rather solid, opting for percentage plays on the breakout and connecting with some quality stretch passes. He had a team-high five hits in 22:29.

Yakemchuk made a ton of competent plays on Saturday before one poor decision cost his team dearly. Not exactly the smoothest skater transitioning between forwards and backwards, Yakemchuk did well to stick with Zegras defending an attack in the first, turning around twice in the neutral zone before throwing his opponent off the puck. Later in that shift, when Zegras put the puck in after the whistle, Yakemchuk didn’t hesitate to rough him up. On a neutral zone regroup in the second, Yakemchuk caught the Flyers napping, hitting Cozens with a perfectly timed lead pass at the blue line for a partial break. However, his ill-advised interference penalty on Foerster led to the 2-1 goal.

Matinpalo looked like Cale Makar making a move around Jack Studnicka along the left half wall in the third, driving into the middle for a wrister that took Vladar’s helmet off. Matinpalo had some chaotic puck touches in the Senators’ end, struggling to complete first passes. He had three giveaways in his first game back from injury.

Ullmark calmly dealt with threats, making a decent save on Noel Acciari on the rush in the first and whacking the rebound away before Garrett Wilson could get to it. He held his ground when Foerster crashed the net on the power play in the second and then stretched out to make a left pad save on Michkov’s rebound try. The two goals against were no fault of his.