Beginning a four-game road trip on Thursday and falling to the Seattle Kraken, the Philadelphia Flyers were back in action last night against the Vancouver Canucks. Hoping to avoid a four-game losing streak, the Flyers were unsuccessful, while the Canucks snapped their three-game skid.
Anthony Beauvillier began the scoring in the first period. Luke Schenn fired a shot from the point, and Beauvillier managed a deflection for his eleventh goal against the Flyers in his career; 1-0. Shortly after, Scott Laughton tied the game. Justin Braun fired from outside the faceoff dot, and Laughton deflected the puck past Artus Silovs; 1-1. On the assist, Braun found his name on the scoring sheet for the first time this season, delivering after John Tortorella went with an 11F/7D roster format.
“Honestly, I don’t really look at that stuff. I’m here for a while; you want to be playing meaningful hockey at the end of the year and really start to push. We’re three or four games back. We got to find a way to even up this road trip, and continue to have that ‘believe’ in here. A lot of guys do, and we’ll keep pushing.”
Scott Laughton; 2/18/2023
The Flyers had ten shots on goal in the first period, nine more than they did to begin against the Kraken. Early on, Hart was sharp. He denied the Canucks of more scoring opportunities than they already had.
Quickly in the second period, Andrei Kuzmenko gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead. Hart played Schenn, but Kuzmenko slotted behind Hart, undetected by Travis Sanheim, tapping in an easy goal. With 6:25 remaining in the second, Beauvillier notched another deflection goal, this time on the powerplay when Elias Pettersson shot off the faceoff; 3-1. Then, Schenn went to the penalty box, and Philadelphia took advantage. Morgan Frost cut the deficit after a second effort at the crease, where his final jab at the puck put it across the goal line on the powerplay; 3-2.
The Flyers were in the game during the third period, but Phillip Di Giuseppe extended the Canucks’ lead back to two goals, 4-2. Hart made the initial save, but his puck control wiped that slate. Di Giuseppe capitalized, then as regulation time ticked away, Tortorella eventually pulled Hart for the extra-attacker. In the remaining few minutes, Pettersson scored two empty-net goals. The final from Vancouver results in consecutive 6-2 losses for Philadelphia.
Pettersson steals the show
Pettersson had five points (2G, 3A) and led the way for the Canucks. Since the Bo Horvat trade, sending him to the New York Islanders, Pettersson is the likely face of the franchise.
Speaking of the Horvat trade, Beauvillier continues to be effective against the Flyers. No matter the sweater, he has twelve goals against Philadelphia in his career. Certain players match up well versus the Flyers in their career, and Beauvillier is proving to be one despite whichever coast he calls home.
Silvos recorded his first NHL victory versus Philadelphia, stopping 35/37 shots on goal.
Offense (-)
Despite outshooting the Canucks, 37-23, the Flyers’ offense lacked for the majority of regulation. Laughton and Frost scored, but Silvos wasn’t tested. Philadelphia has a knack for making young goaltenders look like an NHL All-Star.
“We need to try to find more offense consistently, but our effort was better than last game.”
John Tortorella; 2/18/2023
Last night was supposed to be a jump-start into offense, but it’ll have to wait for another chance in Calgary on Monday.
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. The Flyers take on the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday, February 20th, 2023. The puck drops at 4pm.
(Rich Lam/The Canadian Press via AP)
