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Preview: Flyers Look to Continue Nine Game Point Streak, Face Senators

(Sports Network) - Having earned at least a point in nine straight games, the Philadelphia Flyers try to stretch their home winning streak to seven consecutive contests tonight, but will do so at the Wells Fargo Center against an Ottawa Senators club that has picked up four victories in a row on the road.

The Flyers are 8-0-1 since their last regulation loss on Oct. 25 and lead the Atlantic Division with 24 points. The defending Eastern Conference champions had a six-game win streak end with an overtime loss in Washington on Nov. 7, but bounced back with an 8-1 win at Carolina on Thursday before Saturday's 5-2 home triumph over Florida.

On the day that forward Jeff Carter signed a multi-year contract extension worth a reported $58 million over 11 seasons, captain Mike Richards and Claude Giroux both stayed hot with two goals each, while rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves and earned his first NHL point with an assist.

Giroux has six goals and seven assists over Philadelphia's nine-game point run, while Richards has five goals in his last five games. He has six goals and 12 points in 17 career games versus the Senators.

"I see Richards' confidence building. He was really flying out there [Saturday]," noted Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "He was a noticeable player. He had a lot of speed in his game, a lot of attack too. I thought his line was very good, they had a nice flow."

Philadelphia is 7-3-0 at home this season and hasn't lost at the WFC since Oct. 21.

Forward Andreas Nodl left Saturday's game with a foot injury after blocking a shot. X-rays were negative, but he did not practice on Sunday and his status for this game is unknown.

Bobrovsky has started each game during Philadelphia's point streak and has a 1.79 goals-against average in that span. Owner of 10 wins already this year, he figures to face Ottawa for the first time in his brief NHL career tonight.

If anyone can cool off the Flyers, its Senators goaltender Brian Elliott, who is 4-0-0 with a 0.84 GAA against them. He has stopped 93-of-96 shots in his career when facing Philadelphia and has shut out the club twice.

Elliott picked up his seventh career shutout and first since blanking the Flyers on March 23 as he stopped all 31 shots faced in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Bruins.

Daniel Alfredsson picked up his team-leading seventh goal of the season and first in seven games, while Erik Karlsson also scored for the Sens, who bounced back from Thursday's 6-2 home loss to the Canucks to win for the fifth time in six games.

Defenseman Filip Kuba made his season debut after suffering a broken leg in September.

"I think just from all angles I think we did a good job," said Elliott. "They really didn't have any great opportunities and the ones that they did we were all over them in the slot and we just protected the house really well."

Ottawa won the opener of a four-game road trip and hasn't lost as the visiting club since Oct. 18.

The Senators also played with heavy hearts on Saturday after learning that assistant coach Luke Richardson's 14-year-old daughter Daron passed away from injuries sustained from a suicide attempt. Richardson was not with the team on Saturday.

Richardson spent five of his 21 NHL seasons as a player with the Flyers and his final two with the Senators.

Ottawa took three of four from Philadelphia a season ago and has won five of six and seven of the last 10 meetings between the clubs. The Sens have lost four of their last six in the City of Brotherly Love, though.

Alfredsson has a goal and six assists in his last seven games against the Flyers.