OTTAWA, Ontario — Once already this season the NHL has admitted they botched a call a day later, on a goal that would have changed the outcome of a game.

Thursday night the Flyers thought they were on the wrong end of a second instance.

For the second time in a week, they dug themselves a three-goal hole on the road and it would appear they climbed out of it late in the third period. Sean Couturier had the would-be game-tying goal with 56 seconds left to play when he jammed at a loose puck on the side of the net.

Coach Dave Hakstol almost never verbalizes his disapproval of calls. So, it was a big deal for him to say that his team deserved better than a 5-4 losing fate to the Ottawa Senators. First it was a goal overturned on a goalie interference challenge, then the Couturier tally was waved off.

“We dug ourselves a hole, but the big thing is we dug out of that hole,” he said. “Yeah, it’s frustrating. The first overturned goal, those are judgement calls and I don’t get involved in second guessing them or anything like that. I thought it was a goal, but they’ve got to make that call when they watch it and that’s a judgement call. The last one though, I watched the puck go over the line and it’s 100 percent a goal. I don’t know how that’s missed. That bothers me because our guys fought their rear ends off tonight to get back into this thing and tie this thing up. We tied it up. It’s there. I just watched it on our own video in the coach’s room. It’s clear as day.”

Hakstol said he wasn’t given an explanation of the call, but a press release from the NHL cited rule 78.5, which states apparent goals should be disallowed “when the referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.”

That sings a different tune than rule 38.4 (ix), which says video review can be used to make the proper call. “This would also include situations whereby the Referee stops play or is in the process of stopping the play because he has lost sight of the puck and it is subsequently determined by video review that the puck crosses (or has crossed) the goal line and enters the net as the culmination of a continuous play where the result was unaffected by the whistle (i.e., the timing of the whistle was irrelevant to the puck entering the net at the end of a continuous play).”

In an email to the Courier-Post, an NHL official said that, “The puck did not cross the goal line as a result of the original shot, thereby nullifying it as a continuous play.”

Basically because it was a rebound, the referee can still stop play with the intent of blowing the play dead even though he hadn’t physically done so.

With shades of the Flyers’ failed comeback in Nashville after digging out of a 3-0 hole, the Flyers are trying to tell themselves they did something the scoreboard says they didn’t.

“I didn’t even know it went in,” Couturier said. “I just tried to jam it and didn’t really know where it was. When I found out it was in his glove I thought maybe his glove was in the net. I don’t know what the explanation was.”

This came after a would-be Brandon Manning blast from the point, but Ottawa coach Guy Boucher challenged that Jordan Weal standing in the crease of goalie Craig Anderson was interference and the challenge was upheld.

“We had a couple tough calls against us,” Weal said. “It seems like every couple games, a couple tough calls against us. We played strong and sometimes those things happen. If we keep working, I guess it will turn in our favor soon.”

Here are four more takeaways from Thursday’s game…

Neuvirth’s mixed bag not good enough

The way that Hakstol had been giving out starts to goalies, it was clear that Thursday night was a chance for Michal Neuvirth to take control and he had a bad outing.

“Five goals against is way too much,” Neuvirth said, noting he’d like to have the first and third goals back. “I’ve got to be better.”

On the first goal, by Dion Phaneuf, it looked like the puck may have been tipped somewhere around the circle on its way from the point. Tough to blame Neuvirth on the second goal because he was square to the passer, but Travis Sanheim tried to redirect the pass and instead it went in the net.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s shorthanded tally was one Neuvirth absolutely had to have. It was a problem last year as well. Neuvirth had a .867 save percentage when shorthanded.

And Mark Stone’s spin-o-rama backhander encapsulated the night for Neuvirth. His poor body language after getting beat told the story.

Same for the general manager.

“That was an unbelievable play,” Neuvirth said. “I don’t think I had a chance on that one.”

Neuvirth did tighten up in the third period, but will that be enough to earn him a consecutive start against Toronto Saturday night?

Bad first period

Just like against the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night, the Flyers went down three goals early because they made poor passing plays and the opposition took full advantage.

Early in the season the Flyers were making crisp tape-to-tape passes and that hasn’t been the case in the last week.

“I think we were just sloppy,” Jake Voracek said. “There’s no way around it. Bad start, they score right away. Second goal was a blown coverage by me. I think we played better since the second period but sometimes it’s not good enough.”

The Ottawa Senators play a game of jumping quickly on those turnovers, which Couturier thought played a part.

“I think tonight we played a team that’s pretty passive on that forecheck,” he said. “The 1-3-1, they’re pretty good at it. They step up. That’s what they want, they want to create turnovers and we didn’t execute. We should have maybe just kept it simple and got through those three guys, gotten it in and gone in on the forecheck.”

Voracek on the board

The way Voracek had been playing it seemed only a matter of time before he lit the lamp, especially considering he entered the game leading the team in points with a dozen assists.

For the third straight game he led the team in shots and finally was rewarded. His first goal came rather late in the second period. He tried to pass the puck to Couturier out in front, but it went off Phaneuf and behind Anderson.

“I was a little bit shaking my head after I tipped that puck in the first shift of the second period and it didn’t go in,” Voracek said. “I leave everything on the ice and it was just a matter of time. I didn’t even score. Phaneuf scored it so it was a lucky bounce, but I think I deserved it over the last 10 games.

Defense pairs

For as much as the Flyers got behind, they may have something with a pair of Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov. The two best puck-movers on the back end for the team were pretty dynamic together.

Gostisbehere was supposed to be on the right side and Provorov on the left, but half the time it was the other way around because both have the green light to pinch in and try to make plays. Gostisbehere had an assist and Provorov a goal and an assist.

“If he comes over to my side, I’ll go over to his,” Gostisbehere said. “It’s an interchangeable situation. I’m on the right, but it’s an interchangeable situation to do some movement at the top to not be too stagnant in the O-zone and it’s hard to defend.”

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

SENATORS 5, FLYERS 4

Up next: at Toronto Maple Leafs

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

TV/Radio: NBCSP+/93.3 FM