Today at 12:30 p.m. ET, the Ottawa Senators (42-26-13, 97 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (33-30-18, 84 points) face-off for the third and final time to close out the regular season live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
It's boiled down to this for Ottawa as if they defeat Philadelphia this afternoon, they've stamped their first ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two years.
The Senators are on a 21-4-4 run and sit in the top wild-card position in the Eastern Conference with a one-point lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who fell 3-1 to the New York Islanders on Friday and close out their regular season against the last place Sabres in Buffalo.
Ottawa is also just a point behind the Detroit Red Wings (98) for third place in the Atlantic Division. Detroit visits the Carolina Hurricanes to close out their slate.
This game can be live streamed by clicking here.
The Senators have come so far, but they no Game 82 presents an opportunity and need to stay focused.
We have to attack. We haven't solidified anything yet, and that's how we have to approach it," coach Dave Cameron told NHL.com.. "We're not a team that thrives in sitting back and doing things half-speed. We have to be all in."
Ottawa faces a Philadelphia team that is out of playoff contention, but could relish the opportunity to play spoiler this afternoon.
The Flyers boast a lineup that includes Claude Giroux, who is tied for the league lead with 59 assists and is third in the NHL with 81 points.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson has paced the Senators with 66 points off of 21 goals and 45 assists while Kyle Turris and Mark Stone have 24 tallies a piece and rookie Mike Hoffman has found the back of the net a team-best 27 times.
This season, both teams have earned 2-1 shootout victories against each other and this is the rubber match of the series.
Andrew "The Hamburglar" Hammond has been a key story for the Senators as he is 19-1-2 with a 1.82 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage while being the back bone of Ottawa's recent run.
The Flyers counter with Steve Mason in their finale and he is 18-17-11 with a 2.23 GAA and a .928 save percentage.
The Senators look to clinch a playoff berth while the Flyers hope to play spoiler when the puck drops on both of these teams for the 82nd and final time in the regular season live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
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