Coming off a six-day break between games, the Flyers had an immediate test in front of them. Their first opponent was the league-leading Vancouver Canucks.
The Flyers battled the Canucks through nearly two periods of scoreless play, before three goals in 2:06 broke things open, leading to the eventual 4-1 victory on Thursday night.
Both teams had abbreviated power plays early in the first period and generated some quality scoring chances that resulted in near-misses. As the game settled, opportunities became more scarce in a scoreless first period.
Through 20 minutes, the Flyers had a 13-7 lead in shots.
Early in the second, the Flyers had to weather the storm against the powerful Vancouver power play, which got another opportunity just over six minutes into the period. The Flyers got their second man-advantage with just under six minutes to play, and that opportunity opened the floodgates.
Egor Zamula, added to the power play ahead of Thursday’s game, help the Flyers snap a 1-for-24 drought. His shot got through traffic, resulting in Zamula’s second career goal with 4:57 to play in the period.
Just 1:21 later, the Flyers struck again off a rush. Sean Walker was on the receiving end of a great centering feed by Owen Tippett, burying the shot for his fourth goal of the season at 16:24.
Just 45 seconds after that, Bobby Brink created a turnover that sent Joel Farabee in on a breakaway, and he scored his 12th goal of the season to make it 3-0 in a span of 2:06.
Through two periods, shots were 20-17 Flyers.
The Canucks got on the board just 25 seconds into the third. Teddy Blueger finished off a rush with his fifth goal of the season to cut the Flyers lead to two.
As the Canucks made a push early in the third, Sam Ersson left the game with the trainers, forcing Carter Hart into action off the bench. The Canucks got another power play shortly after, but the Flyers penalty kill worked their magic again.
Right off the opening face-off, Ryan Poehling won a race to a puck and put on the brakes, centering for Garnet Hathaway. Hathaway’s first shot was stopped, but he was able to stay with it and put home the rebound to make it 4-1 with the Flyers’ eighth shorthanded goal of the season.
That was more than enough of a margin for the Flyers, who finished off the victory. Ersson made 18 saves on 19 shots. Hart finished the job with saves on all eight shots he faced. Casey DeSmith made 21 saves on 25 shots in the loss.
It was later announced that Ersson left the game due to dehydration. Travis Konecny also left the game early in the third period and did not return. There was no update on his condition.
Farabee finished with a goal and an assist in the win. Nine different Flyers recorded points.
The Flyers are right back in action on Friday night, taking on the Seattle Kraken at 10 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Flyers | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Canucks | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- No Scoring
2nd Period
- PHI Egor Zamula (2) PP (Tyson Foerster, Cam Atkinson) 15:03
- PHI Sean Walker (4) (Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny) 16:24
- PHI Joel Farabee (12) (Bobby Brink) 17:09
3rd Period
- VAN Teddy Blueger (5) (Dakota Joshua, Quinn Hughes) 0:25
- PHI Garnet Hathaway (4) SH (Ryan Poehling) 5:01
Game Statistics
| Flyers | Canucks | |
| Shots | 25 | 27 |
| Power Play | 1/3 | 0/3 |
| Hits | 16 | 20 |
| Faceoff % | 67% | 33% |
| Giveaways | 2 | 10 |
| Takeaways | 5 | 3 |
| Blocked Shots | 18 | 13 |
| Penalty Minutes | 6 | 6 |
