The Philadelphia Flyers needed that. Steve Mason made 41 saves. Wayne Simmonds scored once in regulation, then tallied the game winner in the shoot out as the Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Tuesday night.
It was a slow start for both teams. Neither Philadelphia nor Ottawa could generate much pressure throughout the opening stanza.
Steve Mason stopped all seven shots he faced. Craig Andersen made all nine saves on his end.
Both teams were unsuccessful on their power play chances. Ottawa went 0-2 in the period while the Flyers were 0-1 on an abbreviated chance.
The second period saw a little more end to end action. The teams exchanged some great scoring chances about midway through the second but again Mason and Andersen stood tall. Both netminders mades some quality saves to keep the game scoreless.
Both teams had one power play chance a piece in the second but neither team could capitalize. The second would end with the Flyers being outshot 15-11 and 22-20 overall.
The third started with a bang as just over six minutes in the Senators broke the scoreless tie. Mike Hoffman added to his team leading total as he notched his 13th goal of the season.
The goal was questionable as the refs appeared to have missed an offside. Jared Cowan had the lone assist.
The Flyers would tie the game two minutes later. Clarke MacArthur took a hooking penalty at 8:51. Wayne Simmonds scored just eight seconds later. Simmonds put home a wrist shot from in tight for his team leading 16th goal. Claude Giroux and Mark Streit had the assists.
Both goalies would once again make some huge saves down the stretch to keep the game tied at the end of regulation.
After a good intial rush by Philadelphia, Ottawa held the puck in the Flyers zone for almost a full two minutes to start the overtime.
The Flyers made one last push with about a minute to play in the overtime but were turned aside. Steve Mason a huge save on Kyle Turris with just over 35 seconds to play.
The teams would head to the shoot out. After exchanging goals on the first shooters, both goalies made save after save until Wayne Simmonds got a chance in the fifth round. Simmonds beat Andersen to give the Flyers the 2-1 Victory.
Steve Mason mad 41 saves for the win and was outstanding all evening.
The Flyers are back in action Thursday night as they host the Washington Capitals. Game time is 7:00.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074.
