Postgame RAV4: Flyers Double Up Canucks

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3, at Rogers Arena on Tuesday evening. Philly overcame a slow start to dominate the second period and come out ahead in a seesaw final frame.

The Canucks dominated the game's first ten minutes. However, after David Kampf (2nd goal of the season) opened the scoring, Noah Cates (10th) knotted the score at 1-1. The Cates goal sparked a strong finish to the period.

Philadelphia controlled the vast majority of the play in the second period. They were rewarded with goals by Carl Grundstrom (7th) and Travis Konecny (12th) to take a 3-1 lead to the second intermission.

In the third period, Drew O'Connor (10th) briefly cut the gap to one goal. However, the Flyers responded immediately and Bobby Brink (10th) restored the insurance goal. Later, Owen Tippett (SHG, 12th) and Christian Dvorak (9th) sandwiched empty net goals around a Tom Willander tally (2nd).

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Canucks' Marcus Pettersson had a scoring chance just 11 seconds after the opening faceoff but he missed the net. Philly iced the puck twice in just the first 67 seconds of the game.

At 1:44, Nick Seeler dropped the gloves with Evander Kane. Seeler didn't like a somewhat late hit from Kane. It was a brief bout with Seeler landing on top. Both players got fighting majors. Play stayed at 5-on-5.

The Canucks grabbed a 1-0 lead on Kampf's point blank goal at 3:45. Jamie Drysdale failed to cancel out Kampf's stick on a centering pass from Drew O'Connor. The secondary assist went to Marcus Pettersson.

Vancouver got the game's first power play at 4:14. Bobby Brink went off for a retaliatory slashing penalty across Brock Boeser's leg. The Canucks generated significant puck possession time and a couple of shots.

When the penalty expired at 6:16, shots on net were 9-0 Vancouver. The Canucks cycled the puck almost at will.

On Philly's second shot of the game, they pulled even. After taking a pass from Matvei Michkov off a defender's loose stick, Cates put the shot home to tie the game at 1-1. The assists went to Michkov and Brink at 12:02.

At 15:25, two minutes of four-on-four play ensued: Travis Konecny went off for a slashing minor while Filip Hronek received a roughing penalty. Denver Barkey had a golden chance to collect a rebound for his first NHL goal but Tyler Myers broke up the play.

Overall scoring chances favored the Canucks by a 14-4 margin. However, Philly had the last five shots of the period after Vancoiver had the first 10.

Shots: Flyers 5 - Canucks 10
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 - Canucks 7

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Michkov had a scoring chance in the first minute of the period off a Canucks neutral zone turnover. At the other end, Cates blocked a prime chance for Boeser from the low slot.

Scoring in his career-best fourth straight game, Grundstrom scored to the far side for a 2-1 Flyers lead at 3:40. Vancouver was caught with tired players on the ice. Travis Sanheim started the sequence with an entry pass to Nikita Grebenkin. Grundstrom finished it off below the circle with Demko overplaying the short side.

Sanheim accidentally tripped Liam Ohgren near the right corner in the defensive zone. The Canucks went to their second power play of the game. Christian Dvorak had a shorthanded scoring chance. Philadelphia killed off the entire penalty in good shape.

At 16:30, Konecny made a diving followup of a Drysdale shot and scored to open a 3-1 lead. The secondary assist went to Trevor Zegras.

Philly went to their first power play at 18:01. Marcus Pettersson clipped Dvorak with a high stick near the Vancouver net. After whiffing on a one-timer, Drysdale took a desperation interference minor at 18:29.

With 9.8 seconds left in the period, Zegras shielded the puck behind the net and made a lightning fast centering pass to Dvorak at the doorstep. Demko made the save to keep the score 3-1 Flyers.

Shots: Flyers 18 (24 overall) - Canucks 9 (19 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 14 (24 overall) - Canucks 10 (17 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Drysdale had a near scoring chance as he exited the penalty box. At 1:09, the Canucks drew back within 3-2. O'Connor turned a broken sequence -- and near icing -- into a goal from near the right post. The helper went to Kampf.

The Flyers got the goal right back. The Flyers got a 2-on-1 off a bounce pass from the defensive zone. Michkov patiently waited for Brink to arrive and fed him at the back door for a 4-2 edge. The second assist went to Cates at 1:34.

Vladar denied Kane on a breakaway after Drysdale broke his stick. Drysdale then kicked the loose puck behind the net. On the next shift, an alert stick check from Zegras muted a Kiefer Sherwood shot attempt from the left circle.

Andrae accidentally deflected a puck on his own net. Vladar kept it out. At 15:32, Grundstrom took a holding minor. Dvorak cleared a puck from the half-boards down the ice. With a half-minute left on the kill, Vancouver pulled Demko for a 6-on-4.

At 17:19, Tippett hunted down a clearing play from Abols. Arriving first, Tippett scored into the empty net for a 5-2 edge. Abols got the lone assist on the shorthanded empty netter.

Willander cut the deficit to 5-3 at 17:19. Jumping on a loose puck, Willander blasted the puck past Vladar. The goal was unassisted.

Vancouver pulled Demko again. At 19:23, Dvorak simply guided the puck into the open net after Konecny and Zegras worked it up ice to him.

Shots: Flyers 9 (33 overall) - Canucks 15 (34 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 (32 overall) - Canucks 8 (25 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Rodrigo Abols – Nikita Grebenkin

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler - Rasmus Ristolainen

Dan Vladar
{Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Between the pipes.

In a goalie rematch from the December 22 game, Dan Vladar made 31 saves on 34 shots. He almost singlehandedly kept the game manageable in the early minutes. Vancouver easily could have grabbed a multi-goal edge. For Vancouver, Demko stopped 27 of 31 shots.

2. The Cates Line

The trio of Noah Cates, Matvei Michkov, and Bobby Brink proved the Flyers with a desperately needed lift after the team was outplayed throughout the first 10 minutes of the game. All three players earned points as Cates reached double-digit goals for the season. The line struck again in the third period, with Michkov (50th career assist) setting up Brink to join the double-digit goal club.

3. Grundstrom finding ways to contribute.

Carl Grundstrom now has seven goals in the 11 games since his second recall of the season from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He scored in both games against the Canucks. The entire fourth line played well in the two games.

4. Flyers power play

Philadelphia went 0-for-1 on the power play. Meanwhile, they were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded empty net goal by Tippett.