Voracek's goal in third lifts Flyers past Canucks

Jakub Voracek scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Wells Fargo Center on Monday.

Voracek, who also had an assist, gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 11:27 with a one-timer from low in the left face-off circle that went in off the right post after a pass by defenseman Justin Braun from below the goal line.
It was the second straight game Voracek scored following a 12-game goal drought.
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"I have that swagger back," he said.
Voracek credited center Sean Couturier, who had a goal and an assist, with allowing him to find that swagger after they were reunited on a line with Oskar Lindblom three games ago.

"He's helping everyone, he's always in the right position," Voracek said. "For me to keep a little bit of speed kind of helped me. I don't have to stop and start all the time, which is really hard to do for an 82-game season. So I am moving a little bit better, and I feel like I have the swagger back. If I don't play with the swagger, I think that's what was missing."
Carter Hart made 16 saves for the Flyers (12-7-5), who are 2-0-1 in their past three games following a four-game winless streak (0-2-2). Philadelphia extended its home point streak to nine games (5-0-4), its longest since winning 10 straight from Nov. 9, 2013-Jan. 8, 2014.
J.T. Miller scored, and Thatcher Demko made 32 saves for the Canucks (12-9-4), who are 3-6-2 in their past 11 games.

"Demko was great. We just didn't win enough battles," Miller said. "They were good, and we were slow. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard than we did today."
Couturier helped the Flyers limit the Canucks to a season-low 17 shots on goal while playing mostly against their top line with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.
"If we play like that most nights, we'll win a lot of games," Couturier said. "We couldn't finish as much as we'd probably like, but we found a way to get two points, and that's all that matters."
Philadelphia outshot Vancouver 26-8 in the second and third periods, but Hart slid across the crease to make the save against Josh Leivo from the right circle off a backdoor pass with 18 seconds remaining and Demko pulled for the extra attacker. That save helped the Flyers avoid going to overtime for the ninth time in 13 games.
"It's nice to finish it off in regulation," said Hart. "We did a good job of not giving them much. Kind of a boring night, you could say, for me. We did a great job of limiting their chances."
Miller gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 10:34 of the first period. Bo Horvat intercepted a clearing attempt by Philadelphia forward Michael Raffl and skated into the slot before spinning and passing to Miller for a one-timer from low in the left circle.

Pettersson hit the crossbar on a 2-on-1 rush 34 seconds later, but the Flyers took over in the second period, when they outshot the Canucks 17-4.
"We had our foot on the gas a lot better in the first period, and they took it to us the next two," Horvat said. "If we want to win in this league consistently, we've got to be able to play a full 60 minutes and be consistent in our game."
Couturier tied it 1-1 at 5:54 of the second. Following a scramble in front of the net, Voracek sent a backhand pass through the slot that hit Miller's stick and deflected to Couturier, who quickly shot it past Demko's blocker.
Demko made a glove save against defenseman Philippe Myers' one-timer from in tight after a cross-ice pass from below the goal line 7:29 into the third period.
"Demko was outstanding, and we weren't good enough in front of him," Horvat said.

They said it

"I'm not going to make excuses. If you want to win in the League, you've got to be consistent. You have to have yourself ready to go. I thought we looked a half step slower." -- Canucks coach Travis Green
"[Sean Couturier] is one of best defensive forwards, putting up huge offensive numbers. He knows what to do to make the other top line miserable. Overall, I think we played them pretty good and we were pretty good on the forecheck, which kills their momentum." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek on shutting down the Canucks' top line of Tanner Pearson, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser

Need to know

Flyers defenseman Shane Gostisbehere was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. ... Canucks center Brandon Sutter missed his sixth game with a groin strain but rejoined them in Philadelphia, practiced Monday, and could return against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. ... Miller has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in his first 25 games with the Canucks. He is the 14th player with at least that many points through 25 games in their history.

What's next

Canucks: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, SNP, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)