The Philadelphia Flyers started the 2024-25 season with a shootout victory after taking down the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 3-2.
The Flyers got season opening tallies from Tyson Foerster and Cam York, Samuel Ersson made 24 saves in 65 minutes as well as 4 in the shootout to earn his first win of the new campaign. Morgan Frost scored the shootout winner in the 5th round.
The Canucks received goals from Nils Höglander and Teddy Blueger, while Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves on 32 shots.
The highly anticipated season opener for the Philadelphia Flyers kicked off in Vancouver and all eyes were firmly set on the NHL debuts of Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko. The Flyers had a relatively quiet offseason but were able to land Michkov 2 years sooner than expected and Luchanko surprised everyone with a spectacular showing during the rookie and training camps to earn a roster spot just a few months removed from being drafted.
Nick Seeler was retroactively placed on IR with a lower-body injury earlier Friday and they recalled Emil Andrae in a subsequent move. Erik Johnson took Seeler’s spot in the lineup and Samuel Ersson earned the call between the pipes as he looked to improve on what was a disappointing finish to a strong rookie season.
As for the Canucks, they entered this one with a lot of questions after blowing a 4-1 lead to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. After jumping out to a 3-goal lead at the end of 20 minutes, the Flames mounted a vicious comeback and limited the Canucks to just 9 shots through the final 42 minutes as they iced the overtime winner early on in the 3-on-3 session.
Kevin Lankinen received the call for his Canucks’ debut in between the pipes after Artūrs Šilovs was in goal for the opener and Thatcher Demko remains on IR to start the year.
FIRST PERIOD
Just 106 seconds into the contest, Canucks veteran defenseman Tyler Myers was helped off the ice after a collision along the boards with Joel Farabee. His right leg hyperextended and he was on the ice for quite some time before being escorted off by his teammates.
On the ensuing shift, the Canucks pinned the Flyers’ fourth line in their own zone. Scott Laughton was able to exit the zone but lost the puck at centre-ice before taking a tripping penalty at the 2:43 mark. It was an eventful 2 minutes as Samuel Ersson made strong stops on J.T. Miller and Jake DeBrusk before Travis Konecny came inches away from a shorthanded tally as his breakaway opportunity was stopped by Kevin Lankinen.
Matvei Michkov was then tagged for a hooking minor at the 5:05 mark, sending the Canucks back onto the power play. It was an even better showing from the Canucks the second time out but Ersson stood his ground, including a glove save on Brock Boeser’s one-time opportunity. Vancouver had 9 shots on goal and 16 attempts through their first 2 power plays.
Fresh off signing a 3-year extension, Nils Höglander opened the scoring after the Canucks jumped on a defensive zone turnover. Ryan Poehling whiffed on a Rasmus Ristolainen feed and Conor Garland recouped the puck at the blue-line before finding Höglander in the slot as he ripped the shot past Ersson.
With the Canucks picking up the pace once again, Höglander was whistled for an interference minor against Garnet Hathaway the 15:31 mark, giving us our first opportunity to see a Michkov-led power play.
The Flyers’ power play looked dangerous on the on-set after Michkov found Morgan Frost in the slot but he was denied by Lankinen twice in front. However, with 7 seconds remaining, Tyson Foerster was able to finish off a tie-tac-toe with Farabee and Bobby Brink getting in on the action to tie things up with 2:36 remaining.
SECOND PERIOD
At the 5:18 mark, the Flyers jumped on their second power play after Filip Hronek was called for a tripping minor. The second unit looked like the more dangerous quintet as Farabee almost made it 2 power play goals in as many opportunities, but he missed the backdoor deflection after a fantastic feed from Foerster.
Shortly after the penalty kill, the Canucks jumped on their third opportunity after the Flyers were nailed for a too many men minor. A much better result for the Flyers as the Canucks weren’t able to record a shot on goal. However, the Canucks made it 2-1 on the ensuing shift after Teddy Blueger deflected Derek Forbort’s shot-pass from the point at the 8:35 mark.
After an eventful first period where the Canucks held a 12-10 shot advantage over the Flyers, the second period was a lot more tightly defended with the Flyers holding a 6-5 edge in the middle frame. John Tortorella juggled the lines a little bit with Michkov and Jett Luchanko seeing some time together as well as Sean Couturier with Farabee and Brink.
THIRD PERIOD
At the 2:50 mark, the Flyers tied the game after Cam York wired a shot top-shelf past Lankinen. The puck came out of the net so fast that the referee waived it off and allowed play to continue. However, a few seconds later the horn buzzed that signaled good goal, tying the game at 2-apiece.
With 13:45 remaining in the final frame, Carson Soucy was whistled for a delay of game penalty, sending the Flyers onto their third power play of the night. Fortunately for the defenseman, his teammates bailed him out but not before Brink was robbed by Lankinen in tight near the end of the power play.
Seconds after the expiration of Soucy’s minor, York was nailed for a cross-checking minor with 11:31 remaining. Similarly, York’s teammates were able to bail him out with a stout kill while also having the best scoring opportunity with Travis Sanheim stopped on a 3-on-2 attempt.
Luchanko then came within inches of scoring his first career goal after Michkov’s initial attempt was stopped. Luchanko ripped the rebound towards the net but Lankinen just got a piece of the puck to keep it out.
The revolving door for the penalty box swung back open as Höglander was called for his second minor of the game after he tripped up Ristolainen with 8 minutes remaining. 90 seconds into the power play, Frost was called for a tripping minor off an offensive zone faceoff, negating the final 30 seconds.
Regulation came to a close with both teams tied at 2 goals apiece and the Flyers carrying a 30-25 shot advantage.
OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT
Round 1: J.T. Miller: Miss, Sean Couturier: Miss
Round 2: Elias Pettersson: Miss, Matvei Michkov: Miss
Round 3: Jake DeBrusk: GOAL, Travis Konecny: GOAL
Round 4: Conor Garland: Miss, Tyson Foerster: Miss
Round 5: Brock Boeser: Miss, Morgan Frost: GOAL
Morgan Frost’s patented move beat Lankinen and sent the Flyers on their way with a huge 3-2 shootout victory in Vancouver.
UP NEXT
The Flyers are right back at it on Saturday night when they take on the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome (10:00pm ET; NBCSP).
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