e lost our legs a little bit in the second, gained it back in the third, clawed back a little bit

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers trudged off the ice to the familiar refrain of boos from the few thousand fans that stuck around to witness a collapse that capped one of the more arduous 48 hours in franchise history.Ron Hextall: Fired as general manager after 4½ middling seasons.Dave Hakstol: On a white-hot seat and his uncertain coaching fate in the hands of the new GM.And then a breakdown that has become too familiar for the Flyers: Blowing a two-goal lead in the third period to Ottawa in front of a fed-up crowd.“Everything we touch Montreal Canadiens Hoodies Authentic , it just doesn’t work,” Flyers forward Jake Voracek said.Brady Tkachuk had the magic tough for the Senators.Tkachuk scored twice in the third period and Matt Duchene scored the eventual winner with 2:59 left, lifting the Senators to a 4-3 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night in the Flyers’ first game since Hextall was fired.The Flyers showed why Hextall is out of work and Hakstol’s job is in jeopardy. They coughed up a 3-1 lead over the final 6 ½ minutes of the third period and lost for the sixth time in seven games.“As soon as they got that second goal we kind of got scared. You can’t do that,” Voracek said.Tkachuk made it 3-2 late in the third and he tied it on a tip-in with 6:31 remaining. The Flyers turned it over in their end and Duchene batted the puck past Anthony Stolarz for a 4-3 lead.“It felt like it was the only time I touched the puck all night,” Duchene said.Voracek, Radko Gudas and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers in front of scores of empty seats inside a home arena once among the most imposing in the NHL. Flyers fans have turned away in droves and tickets were selling on the secondary market for $6 in the mezzanine level, a minor-league price for a franchise that traditionally averaged 19,000 fans a game.Hakstol knows he’s in a precarious position with Hextall, who hired the coach with no NHL experience out of North Dakota in 2015, gone. Flyers President Paul Holmgren said the next general manager would decide Hakstol’s fate.“Given the scenario we are in Montreal Canadiens Hats Authentic , that’s a pretty reasonable process,” Hakstol said. “Whoever that is, he will come in and evaluate me as head coach and whether or not he likes what he sees and I’m the right guy to work with him.”Hakstol, in his fourth season, has led the Flyers to pair of playoff berths and his job appeared to be on the line after the Flyers lost 6-0 to Toronto on Saturday. Instead, it was Hextall who was fired with the Flyers (11-11-2) mired in mediocrity and fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But it was more than the sagging record that sent Hextall packing; Holmgren said the former GM was “unyielding” in his philosophical approach of building the Flyers into winners through the draft and a lone-wolf style of management. Hextall had tuned out input from other decision makers in the organization and had yet to make a big splash with the type of trade that could transform the Flyers into instant contenders.Holmgren said the Flyers would like to hire a new GM within weeks.They need a win sooner than that.Konecny scored his seventh goal of the season just 4:23 in the game for the usually slow-starting Flyers.“I think the main thing for us is getting in the offensive zone and even if it’s not your ‘A’ game, as long as we’re cycling the puck and doing the right things down low then we are going to get opportunities,” Konecny said.Thomas Chabot beat Stolarz in the first to even the score 1-all. Stolarz was the whopping fifth goalie to start a game for the Flyers this season.Voracek scored his sixth goal of the season in the second period and Gudas followed with his first for a 3-1 lead to cushion the lead.Much like Hextall during his tenure, it wasn’t enough.Tkachuk, the fourth overall pick of the 2018 draft Custom Montreal Canadiens Jerseys , scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season to spark a comeback.“We knew it was going to go our way,” he said. “We believed in it, we trust the process and it was a big win for us.”NOTES: The Senators snapped a four-game losing streak. … Ottawa completed its third set of back-to-back games and improved to 1-1-1 in the second game.UP NEXTSenators: Host the Rangers on Thursday.Flyers: At Pittsburgh on Saturday. PITTSBURGH (AP) — After a baffling loss to a last-place team and with a visit from the NHL’s best club looming, the Pittsburgh Penguins called a players-only meeting on Tuesday in an effort to clear the air.“We needed an answer,” defenseman Kris Letang said.For a night, they found one.Playing with an edge they lacked two nights earlier against struggling New Jersey, the Penguins turned away the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Wednesday to send a message that when they are fully engaged, they remain as dangerous as ever.“We all know that Tampa Bay right now is at the top of the league,” Letang said. “They’re a really good measuring stick for any team. Tonight was important, especially (after) the two points that slipped the night before. It was a good effort www.officialpredators.com , and I think it brought the best out of us.”Matt Murray finished with 33 saves to keep the NHL’s highest scoring team in check, and Letang tied Hall of Famer Paul Coffey’s franchise record for career goals by a defenseman. Letang’s shot from the right circle 6:02 into the second period beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to give him 12 goals on the season and 108 since his NHL debut in 2007.Letang, a five-time All-Star, called the milestone “surreal.” He’s still a long way off from Coffey’s 396 career goals over 21 NHL seasons.“Growing up watching him, I never thought I would have my name next to his,” Letang said.Riley Sheahan, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby scored during a first-period outburst by Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to become the fifth Russian-born player in league history to reach 600 career assists then drew a 5-minute fighting major in the third period after tussling with Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos.“That’s (his) best game in a while,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Malkin. “He was on the puck. You notice him. He was a presence every shift.”Murray withstood an early barrage by Tampa Bay to hand the Lighting just their fourth regulation loss in their last 25 games.Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on five shots before settling down to finish with 18 saves, but Tampa Bay couldn’t recover in its return from a 10-day break. J.T. Miller and Stamkos scored late in the third period to keep the Lighting from being shut out for the first time this season, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent Tampa Bay from falling to 2-12-2 in its last 14 regular-season visits to Pittsburgh.“We just kind of got behind the eight-ball and they capitalized on it their couple chances they got Nashville Predators T-Shirts Authentic ,” Stamkos said. “It was just an uphill battle from there. So I thought we stuck with it, but just too sloppy to start the game.”Sullivan expressed frustration at his team’s scattershot play against the Devils, when turnovers and disinterested play in front of Murray dropped Pittsburgh to 1-7-1 against last-place teams. Two days later against an opponent with the inside track to claim the Presidents’ Trophy, the effort and the results were far different.Sheahan gave the Penguins the lead 3:25 into the game when he pounced on a rebound of Garrett Wilson’s wraparound attempt and flipped it past Vasilevskiy. Kessel’s 21st goal of the season less than five minutes later came in much the same fashion. Kessel and Bryan Rust broke in 2-on-1 and Rust attempted to skate across the crease and beat Vasilevskiy with a backhand only to lose control of the puck. No matter. Kessel, standing at the left post, tapped it in to make it 2-0.Pittsburgh needed just 16 seconds to push the advantage to 3-0. Jake Guentzel forced a turnover behind the Tampa Bay net. Dominik Simon jumped on the loose puck and fed Crosby all alone in front.The Lightning opted to stick with Vasilevskiy and turned up the pressure on the other end of the ice. Pittsburgh went more than 17 minutes without a shot on net at one point, but Tampa Bay couldn’t figure out a way to beat Murray. By the time the Lightning finally broke through on Miller’s goal with 4:05 remaining in the third, the outcome was already decided.“I just thought we lost our legs a little bit in the second, gained it back in the third, clawed back a little bit Nashville Predators Hoodies Authentic ,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “But still you’re down four, it’s tough.”NOTES: Kendall Coyne Schofield, a forward on the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team who finished seventh in the fastest skate competition at the All-Star Game last weekend, worked the game as an analyst for NBC Sports Network. … Pittsburgh F Derick Brassard missed the game with an upper-body injury. … Tampa Bay’s top-ranked power play went 1 for 2 with the man advantage. Pittsburgh’s went 0 for 3. … Malkin is the fourth Penguin to reach 600 assists, joining Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Crosby. … Pittsburgh forward Teddy Blueger played 6:22 in his NHL debut.UP NEXTLightning: Visit the New York Islanders on Friday.Penguins: Finish three-game homestand on Friday against Ottawa.