Postgame 5: Flyers Battle back to Conquer Canucks, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers improved to 2-0-0 on the young season as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to grind out a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks (0-2-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. Travis Konecny scored the game-winning goal in the third period after assisting on a game-tying marker in the second stanza.

The Flyers controlled the first period, but the Canucks took a 2-0 to the first intermission on goals by Kyle Burroughs (1st) and Conor Garland (1st). The tables turned in the second period, as the Flyers drew even at 2-2 on a Tony DeAngelo power play goal (1st) and a Scott Laughton shorthanded marker (1st). Laughton went alone after being sprung by Konecny on a breakaway.
Carter Hart faced some adversity in the first period before slamming the door with 25 shots over the final 40 minutes Overall. Hart authored 27 saves on 29 shots. Thatcher Demko finished with 27 saves on 30 Flyers shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-5 on the power play. The Canucks went 0-for-5, allowing the Laughton shorthanded along the way.
Olle Lycksell made his NHL debut in this game for Philadelphia. He skated 9:02 over 10 shifts and took one minor penalty.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 57 Wade Allison
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 58 Tanner Laczynski
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 59 Jackson Cates - 62 Olle Lycksell
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
TURNING POINT
The Flyers back-to-back special teams goals in the second period pulled them even on the scoreboard, but the game remained up for grabs. At 13:53 of the third period, some self-made puck luck by the Flyers proved to be the difference. An Ivan Provorov shot attempt was partially blocked but pinballed to Konecny, who pulled the puck around Demko and stashed it home for the winning goal.

The Flyers weren't out of the woods yet. It took several more clutch saves by Hart and a final 6-on-4 penalty kill to nail down the one-goal win.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1. The Flyers had a golden scoring chance on the game's first shift. On a play somewhat similar to their first goal on opening night, Wade Allison had a rebound come to him near the net. This time, Allison was unable to finish it.
At 1:34, Burroughs scored on what initially looked to be a harmless shot from the tip of the right circle. However, the shot went off Nick Seeler's skate, rose and fluttered past Hart on the short side. The assists went to Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson.
The Flyers controlled much of the territorial play but ended up with nothing to show for it. At 14:12, the Canucks doubled their lead to 2-0. Kevin Hayes was unable to protect the puck at the defensive blueline and Vancouver gained possession. From the right circle just inside the dot, Garland beat Hart to the blocker side. The assists were credited to Vasily Pozkolzin and ex-Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn. The Flyers contended that Hart had been bumped at the net on the play but did not challenge the call.
2. Ultimately, the 1st period boiled down to this: Vancouver scored on two of theirs three shots; neither of which was unstoppable. At the other end of the ice, the Flyers had some looks but were unable to solve Demko.Philly came away blank on three power plays.

The Flyers outshot Vancouver, 14-4, and had 24 shots attempts to eight for the Canucks. Philly won 11 of 15 faceoffs (73 percent), The Flyers had five high-danger scoring chances while Vancouver officially didn't have any. All of that meant nothing but a 2-0 deficit in the cash register.
3. Hart came up big twice in the first half of the middle stanza. At 5:35, after a Konecny turnover into the slot, Hart made a full extension save on Andrei Kuzmenko to keep the deficit at two goals. Later, Hart denied Dakota Joshua with the pad.
It took the Flyers until their fifth power play of the game (second of the middle period) to finally cash in. It was a simple enough play: Get the puck back to the point with traffic in front. It worked as DeAngelo fired from the right point through layers of bodies and sticks to cut deficit to 2-1 at 10:17 with Schenn in the box for elbowing Farabee. The assists went to James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Hayes.

The next two power play belonged to Vancouver. At 17:49, with Olle Lycksell in the box for offensive zone tripping after losing a puck battle, the Flyers struck shorthanded after a JT Miller turnover. Konecny banked a picturesque pass to a wide-open Laughton. From there, Laughton was home free, and he fired a wrist shot home over the glove to knot the score at 2-2.

4. Second period shots were 13-9 Vancouver. The Canucks had 59.3 percent of the shot attempts and a 9-2 all-situations edge in high-danger chance. But, just like the first period in reverse, the two that ended up counting belonged to the Flyers.
   5. Hart was tested several times in the third period and came up big when play got scrambled in the defensive zone. At 12:49, Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Burroughs. Finally, with 6:07 remaining, Konecny provided the only lead the Flyers would hold -- or need -- on the day.
   With 1:58 remaining in regulation, Laughton was called for hooking, setting up a 6-on-4 for the Canucks with an empty net behind them. Hart came up with three saves, including on Horvat from the left slot. He also got a blocked shot by Cates and several clears in front of him.
   Third period shots were 12-7 in Vancouver's favor.