Couturier helps Flyers push past Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist to help the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

James van Riemsdyk scored, Claude Giroux had two assists, and Martin Jones made 27 saves for the Flyers (4-1-1), who have won their first two road games of the season. They won 5-3 at the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
"In back-to-backs usually you have your legs going early and you've got kind of a carryover from the last game, especially [because] we had a big win last night," Couturier said. "It's more as the game goes on, you want to keep that same pace. It's not easy. The travel legs kind of get to you, but tonight we did a good job defensively and we had 'Jonesy' to save us a couple of times, so that was that was huge."
Philadelphia has won four of its past five and can sweep its three-game trip by defeating the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
"In the third (period) we found a way, even though on back-to-back nights and [being] late getting in here, we found a way to get the energy to roll the lines and get the two points, so really happy with what we've done these first two games on the road trip," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We're going to recover, we're going to rest up tomorrow and then we're going to get ready for Calgary."

Quinn Hughes scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves for the Canucks (3-4-1), who have lost the first two of a seven-game homestand.
"It's definitely frustrating," Hughes said. "Everyone in the room wanted that one. That was an important game. It's still a young season, but that's frustrating. I thought we were going to score late, but it didn't work out."
Jones, who is in his first season with Philadelphia after signing as a free agent in the offseason, made a save with his mask on a Brock Boeser one-timer from the left circle with 1:27 left, and two more saves on a 6-on-4 with Halak pulled in the final 1:20.
"He was an all-star tonight," Vigneault said of Jones. "He played extremely well."
The Flyers outshot the Canucks 15-4 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into the game when Couturier received a pass from Travis Konecny on a 2-on-1 and scored with a one-timer over Halak's blocker.
It was the sixth time in Vancouver's eight games that it has given up the first goal.
"Not the start you are looking for," Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn said. "Chasing games isn't fun. It's tough to do all the time. We have to look at things and get off to better starts."
Hughes tied it 1-1 at 2:15 with a point shot that deflected off the right post and went in off the skate of Jones.

But Hughes took an interference penalty at 6:48, and van Riemsdyk scored 10 seconds into the power play to put Philadelphia back ahead 2-1. Giroux banked a pass from the top of the left face-off circle off the end boards to Couturier at the other side of the net, where Couturier one-touched it through the crease to van Riemsdyk for a backdoor tap-in at 6:58.
Giroux has scored eight points (four goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak to start the season.
"He has a hot stick, and we're just going to keep feeding it," Couturier said.
The Canucks outshot the Flyers 16-5 in the second period but couldn't beat Jones.
"Very clutch," Giroux said. "He gave us a chance to win. We did our best in front of him, especially on the PK to help him out, but he made some huge saves."
Philadelphia was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"Going 0-for-5 on the power play is the story of the game," Hughes said.
NOTES: Forward Patrick Brown had one shot on goal and played 9:45 in his Philadelphia debut. He was claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 11 and joined the Flyers in Edmonton on Wednesday. … Ryan Ellis missed a third straight game for Philadelphia with an undisclosed injury. Vigneault said he was not optimistic the defenseman would play Saturday. … Canucks forward Matthew Highmore missed the third period with an undisclosed injury. There was no update. … Vancouver defenseman Tucker Poolman did not play because of an upper-body injury sustained in the 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Schenn took his place and had seven hits in 14:11 of ice time.