5 Day Blank Calendar

Postgame 5: Flyers Blank Canucks in Home Opener

The second period was dominated by the Flyers from start to finish. They were unable, however, to extend their lead.

At 3:34 of the third period, the Canucks put the puck on the net on a pinballing shot originally fired by Carson Soucy. There was contact at the net and the Flyers successfully challenged the play for goaltender interference. The Flyers preserved the lead the rest of the way.

Carter Hart earned his sixth career shutout, stopping all 24 shots fired on net. Thatcher Demko played extremely well in a losing cause, denying 40 of 42 shots.

Couturier dressed for Tuesday’s game after missing practice on Monday. With both Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink dressing for the home opener and Scott Laughton being moved from left wing to center, Morgan Frost was scratched from the lineup.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

11 Travis Konecny – 21 Scott Laughton -71 Tyson Foerster74 Owen Tippett – 14 Sean Couturier -89 Cam Atkinson74 Owen Tippett – 27 Noah Cates – 10 Bobby Brink44 Nic Deslauriers – 25 Ryan Poehling – 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York – 6 Travis Sanheim18 Marc Staal – 26 Sean Walker5 Egor Zamula – 24 Nick Seeler

79 Carter Hart[33 Samuel Ersson]

1. Couturier won a puck down low and passed to Tippett, who cut across for the game’s first scoring chance at 1:16. Zamula’s goal followed shortly thereafter.

Brink made a great play to escape from the defensive corner, carry the puck up ice himself and fire a shot on net from the top of the right circle at 6:10. The shot itself was routine but was a really nice play to alleviate pressure and attack in transition.

Vancouver got the game’s first power play at 7:51 as Hathaway was whistled off for holding. The Flyers staged a strong penalty kill, especially by Konecny and Laughton. Hart had six saves midway through the period.

RIght in front of the Flyers’ bench, Deslauriers landed a big hit on Canucks’ top offensive star, Elias Pettersson. Several Canucks players chirped at Deslauriers after the next whistle.

At 17:23, Couturier was fouled by Pettersson and received the penalty shot opportunity that he turned into Philly’s second goal.

Hart cleanly snared a Filip Hronek shot with his glove for this eighth save of the opening stanza. The save came with 1:35 remaining in the first period.

2. First period shots on goal were 9-8 Flyers. Shot attempts were 22-14 Vancouver. The Flyers blocked seven shots (Konecny and Zamula blocked three apiece). Faceoffs were tied at 9-9. First period scoring chances were 11-9 Vancouver with an 8=6 high danger edge to the Canucks. All that really mattered, though, was the 2-0 score in the cash register. Hart was very sharp in goal.

3. The Flyers came out swarming the second period, led by relentless forechecking from Travis Konecny and the fourth line. Philly quickly racked up five shots on goal and a couple scoring chances.

Brink was robbed at the doorstep at 5:17 on a spectacular save by Demko. At the 7:00 mark, Tippett intercepted a bad pass in the Canucks’ zone and had a prime scoring chance but Demko made the save on the 20-foot shot. Hathaway had a bang-bang chance at 9:07 that was partially blocked.

Shots in the period were 10-0 Flyers through a TV timeout at 9:07.

4, If not for Demko, the Flyers would have run away with the game. The ice was positively lopsided but the Flyers were unable to add to their lead. Shots on goal were a staggering 23-2 in Philly’s favor. Shot attempts were 31-8 Flyers. Scoring chances were 19-9 Flyers with a 10-2 high-danger advantage to Philly.

5. Myers was called for tripping at 1:07 of the third period as the Flyers went on their fourth power play of the game. Philly was unable to generate much pressure on this man advantage.

The Canucks, after their disallowed goal, took exception to a boarding hit by Staal at 5:16. Noah Juulson went after Staal. The penalties — boarding minor on Staal, roughing on Juulsen — canceled out. Four-on-four play ensued.

At 5:56, Sam Lafferty and Konecny tangled and received matching minors (unsportsmanlike conduct for Lafferty, roughing for Konecny) and 10-minute misconducts, That trade-off favored Vancouver.

With the Vancouver net empty, Couturier hit the post from long distance with 2:19 remaining on the game clock.

The Canucks went back on the power play with 2:10 left in the game. Laughton went off for slashing. Vancouver pulled Demko again for a 6-on-4.