Ottawa hasn't played since a 3-2 win in Toronto, but it's the club still on the clock. The Senators play at Boston on October 5 and at Detroit on October 6 before they come home, so form, goaltending usage and the injury list can all change before puck drop at 7:00 PM ET. Those 2 road games will tell us a lot more about this Ottawa team than 1 win at Scotiabank Arena does.
The biggest name on either injury list is Sanderson. He left the Toronto game 12:45 into the 1st period after just 4:29 of ice time. He got tangled up with Nick Paul and pulled himself out because he was afraid he'd reaggravated an earlier injury. Travis Green said it didn't look serious but ruled him out for the rest of the road trip. That trip ends in Detroit, so Thursday's home game is the first one where Sanderson's status is really an open question. Ottawa is already missing Artem Zub on defense and Andre Burakovsky up front, so getting its top defenseman back or not changes what this lineup looks like.
The matchup itself is simple. Philadelphia has to stop chasing the puck, because a team that gets outshot nearly 2-to-1 can't survive on goaltending and overtime coin flips. Ottawa's job depends on what Boston and Detroit take out of it, and whether Sanderson walks back in. If the Senators come home rested and healthy, the Flyers' first win gets that much harder to find. If Sanderson stays out, Ottawa's blue line gets very thin.