PHILADELPHIA _ In their first game after general manager Ron Hextall was stunningly fired on Monday, the Flyers started the Save Dave Hakstol's Coaching Job portion of their schedule Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
The way the Flyers play in the coming days, and the days after a new GM is hired, will likely decide Hakstol's fate.
So far, it doesn't look good for the fourth-year coach.
Ottawa, which had lost four straight, scored three late goals and jolted the Flyers, 4-3.
Matt Duchense batted in his own rebound with 2:59 left to give Ottawa a 4-3 lead.
Brady Tkachuk scored a pair of late goals 1 minutes and 54 seconds apart to tie the score at 3. He knocked in a rebound with 8:28 left in regulation to get the Senators to within 3-2. With 6:34 remaining, he deflected Thomas Chabot's point drive past goalie Anthony Stolarz, who was aiming for his first win in almost two years.
Tkachuk also scored a pair of goals against the Flyers in a game in October.
The Flyers got goals from Travis Konecny, Jake Voracek and Radko Gudas, but they lost for the sixth time in the last seven games. Loud boos echoed around the arena as they left the ice.
They are just 5-7-1 at home.
Defenseman Ivan Provorov, who was reunited with Shayne Gostisbehere for most of the game, and Scott Laughton each had a pair of assists for the Flyers. No matter. The Flyers blew a late 3-1 lead and lost despite outshooting the Sens, 37-24.
Earlier in the day, Paul Holmgren, the Flyers' club president, said Hakstol's future will be decided by the new general manager.
"Given the scenario we're in, that's a pretty reasonable process," Hakstol said before the game. "They'll make a hire on a new GM, and whoever that is will come in and evaluate me as a head coach and whether or not he likes what he sees and if I'm the right guy to work with him."
Asked about his performance this season," said Hakstol, whose team took a 10-11-2 record into the night and was tied for last in the Metropolitan Division, said "nobody is happy with where we're at. We're a game below .500. (Monday) was a tough day for everybody inside our organization and inside of our dressing room, so we show up and work and battle every day. ... We have to find ways to make our team a little bit better."
The Flyers looked better than they usually do at the start of games. They controlled the first period and, just 4:23 into the game, took a 1-0 lead when Konecny took a pass from Claude Giroux and scored on a one-timer from the top of the left circle.
"I knew everyone was coming with back pressure and were going to kind of lose me and focus on G, so I just backed off for a one-timer," Konecny said after scoring his seventh goal of the season.
Ottawa, outshot by an 11-6 margin in the first period, tied the game about 1 { minutes later when Chabot's shot from the high slot deflected off Flyers winger Oskar Lindblom and went past a surprised Stolarz.
With the Flyers having an extra attacker because of a delayed penalty, Voracek gave the home team a 2-1 lead with 16:38 left in the second, scoring from deep inside the right circle after taking a pass from Provorov. Voracek beat backup goalie Mike McKenna, who had a 5.41 goals-against average in his first four appearances, contributing to the Senators' league-worst 4.33 GAA.
Just 2:22 later, defenseman Radko Gudas scored his first goal in 47 games, firing a point drive past McKenna to make it 3-1 with 14 minutes to go in the second.
"I've been shooting the puck pretty good the last few games. I thought I would eventually squeeze one in," Gudas said. "It feels very good."
