Brayden Schenn's mastery of power play helps slumping Flyers' unit

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Brayden Schenn has scored 23 goals this season. 

That's tied for 46th in the NHL.

Sixteen of Schenn's goals have come on the power play.  

That's third in the NHL.

He's just one goal behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Wayne Simmonds is fourth with 15.

Coming into Tuesday's matchup with Ottawa, the Flyers' power-play unit had been nothing short of dismal in March.

"No doubt about it, that's no secret," Schenn said.

Before Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Senators, the Flyers were 3 for 46 on the power play in March and 0 for the last 17.

Thanks to Schenn, that skid came to a halt.

After coming up empty Tuesday on their first two power-play attempts, the Flyers got a much-needed goal.

With 1:26 left in the first period and the Flyers down, 1-0, Shayne Gostisbehere pounded a shot from between the blue line and the circle. The deep shot was ricocheted by Schenn for a game-tying goal.

"We were able to get some tips and rebounds and chances like that," Schenn said. "Sometimes when it's not clicking, that's your best option -- try to shoot the puck and try to get it to the net."

This is the first time the Flyers have won back-to-back games since their victories over the Avalanche and Panthers on Feb. 28 and March 2, respectively. Steve Mason was in goal for both games and sees how important Schenn is to the team’s success, especially on the power play.

"He's another guy that's playing well right now," Mason said. "Obviously has done well on the power play this year, so it was good to get a goal from him tonight on the power play. Schenn is another guy that when he's going, other teams have to worry about him."

Flyers coach Dave Hakstol took it a step further. He sees Schenn's line with Sean Couturier and Dale Weise developing some chemistry in this recent stretch.

"I think [Couturier] has been really down the middle of the rink," Hakstol said. "He has been a backbone as a centerman up and down. I think both Brayden and Weise have done a good job. That line, if you look over our last six or seven games, has been effective. They have made plays. They seem to have grown in confidence over that time period."

That said, the Flyers were unable to climb closer to the second wild-card spot Tuesday night. The Bruins' 4-1 win over the Predators kept the Flyers six points out with six games to go.

"Our team is winning at a hectic pace," Schenn said. "We have to win all of our remaining six or seven games that we have left and just keep the pace and try to keep going."

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