Just like it was anticipated, the Vancouver Canucks vs. Philadelphia Flyers matchup last night was a seesaw affair as two struggling teams went punch for punch until the very end. The Flyers desperately needed to leave Thursday’s game with two points, as they have struggled mightily over the last month. The Flyers indeed got back on the horse as they battled back from multiple one-goal deficits to force overtime and ultimately seal the win in a shootout.
As for the Canucks, this marks their third straight loss in their final game of a three-game road trip. Prior to the road trip, they had been one of the hottest teams in the league, winning six straight. However, what’s been their Achilles heel all season long has been their efforts away from home, as they now fall to a putrid 5-13-3 on the road.
The key for the Flyers’ victory last night was that their offense finally came back alive. Head coach Dave Hakstol shuffled up his lines yet again in order to get his once potent offense back to form. Travis Konecny found himself playing right wing alongside star center Claude Giroux on the first line for the first time this season and rewarded Hakstol with a goal. Also, the Flyers’ once fearsome power play, which has struggled of late, came back from the dead as they went two-for-four on the man-advantage in helping them secure the win.
First Period
The first stanza would quickly turn into a period dominated by a barrage of penalties. The Flyers had four in the period alone, with two of them being double-minors, and both coming from two players in Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto. As such, the Canucks would strike first in the game on a five-on-three as a result of the Manning and Del Zotto double minors. From there, the Flyers would successful kill the rest of Del Zotto’s penalty and would eventually be rewarded with a power play of their own. On the power play is where the Flyers would strike back to tie the game up at one with a great hand-eye play from rookie Travis Konecny.
Travis Konecny ties it! pic.twitter.com/SRL9auh2u8
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) January 13, 2017
Second Period
The second period is where all the action was found. There would be a total of five goals scored in the entirety of the period as each team skated back and forth trading punches throughout. Markus Granlund would waste no time making it a 2-1 game as he opened the period’s scoring just under two minutes in. About halfway through the stanza is where the Flyers would begin their march toward taking their first lead of the game. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a nifty Matt Read pass in the slot and absolutely buried it home to tie the game up at two.
Bellemare blasts one to tie it! pic.twitter.com/TR1kHJ8YMG
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) January 13, 2017
Just moments later Jakub Voracek made a beautiful pass in the slot to find Sean Couturier back post for the easy tip-in goal to take the lead 3-2. The Flyers’ lead would, however, be very short lived, as the Canucks would tie it up at 3-3 less than a minute later prior to eventually re-taking the lead 4-3 before the period was all said and done.
Third Period
The third period is where the ice began tilting towards the Canucks’ end. Starting the period on the power play, the Flyers struck early on Brayden Schenn’s NHL-leading 10th power-play goal of the season. The Flyers heavily peppered Canucks goalie Ryan Miller with 15 shots in the period, but he made multiple big-time saves to keep his team in the game.
Got snipes like Schenn pic.twitter.com/s02vqpbkdp
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) January 13, 2017
Despite the Flyers’ onslaught in the third, this game would need the extra frame to determine who would skate away with the extra point.
Overtime
The Flyers carried the momentum they built from a strong third period into the extra frame. Voracek had a handful of great passes and individual efforts that could have ended the game, but Miller would get the best of Flyers’ attempts. Perhaps the best chance in the overtime came from Flyers rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov. With the time winding down, he made a stellar individual effort that just barely missed for the game winner.
Provorov drives around the defense but was denied. pic.twitter.com/z8CXSuKucW
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) January 13, 2017
Shootout
It’s only fitting that on the day of Claude Giroux’s 29th birthday, he’d have the chance to give the Flyers a shootout win. With the first two skaters missing their attempts, Giroux would convert as the shootout’s only goal scorer to preserve the Flyers’ extra point and get them back in the win column, something they so desperately needed.
Can always count on Claude! pic.twitter.com/h09lBGRdPJ
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) January 13, 2017