These three players stood out the most in the Philadelphia Flyers win over Vancouver Canucks.
Hoping to avoid yet another losing streak after falling to the Calgary Flames in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers played host to the Vancouver Canucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Orange and Black couldn’t get the job done the last time these two teams met, losing 3-2 in a shootout, and hoped to tie the season series up at one in their final matchup with Vancouver in 2019-20. Carter Hart got the nod in-net from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and opposed Thatcher Demko on the other end of the ice.
The Canucks were able to get the game’s first goal following a tightly checked opening ten minutes of the frame as J.T. Miller took a great feed from Bo Horvat and sniped the puck past Hart for his tenth goal of the season. Michael Raffl kick-started the scoring play by committing a turnover in the defensive zone, allowing Horvat to move to the slot and find Miller near the bottom of the left circle for the tally. The Flyers had the chance to tie it with a power-play opportunity later on in the period but failed to create anything of note while on it, finding themselves trailing by one after 20 minutes of action.
Philly had a tremendous start to the second, generating a litany of chances in front of Demko in the first 84 seconds of the stanza while also killing off a Vancouver power-play a few minutes after. Their excellent effort would eventually pay off in the form of a game-tying goal from Sean Couturier, who pounced on a loose puck in front of the crease for his seventh tally of the 2019-20 campaign. The Flyers continued to dominate the period, putting a whopping 17 shots on Demko while holding the Canucks to just four. However, the Fly Guys were unable to find twine twice in the second as the game stayed knotted at one heading into the third.
Jakub Voracek eventually gave his side the lead after more pressure from the Flyers to begin the frame, putting on an absolute snipe-show to get the puck by Demko for the 2-1 advantage. Justin Braun made a tremendous pass to find Voracek on the left dot, who then double-doinked the puck off of the post and crossbar for his sixth goal on the year. This goal would end up being the game-winner as the Flyers held on to defeat the Canucks in regulation. No overtime or shootout this time, folks!
My top standout in this one has to be Voracek, and before you ask yourself, no, that’s not a typo. While Voracek got a little lucky by getting an assist on Coots’ goal, as a Vancouver defender misplayed the puck that allowed the play to happen, the centering pass Jake made was still impressive, fitting the puck between two Canucks from behind the net. A good play deserves to get rewarded sometimes, and I can’t think of a better player who deserved the friendly bounce more than Voracek, except for James van Riemsdyk.
Outside of that specific play and the eventual game-winning goal, the veteran forward consistently created chances in the offensive zone and even had a nice blocked shot in the second period, which you don’t see a whole lot from the 30-year-old. One can only hope this two-game point streak Voracek ignited tonight will only continue to grow in the coming days because the team could sure use some production out of the Czech-native.
I’ve got to mention the Claude Giroux, Morgan Frost, and Travis Konecny line, as well, even though it’s kind of cheating since that would make it four players instead of three. While neither of the three found the back of the net this evening, they did everything else that was asked of them. The combination of Giroux, Frost, and TK led all Philly lines in total Shots For with 13, Scoring Chances For with 11, and High Danger Chances For (HDCF) with three at 5-on-5 with Score and Venue Adjusted, per Natural Stat Trick.
They also ranked second in Expected Goals, Corsi, and HDCF percentage, adding to their successful statistical night. I could’ve gone with Hart or especially Couturier here, too, but opted for the top line due to how dominant they were from start to finish. If the trio can continue to play this way and, more importantly, cash in on the chances they generate, then AV’s going to have one hell of a top combination on his hands.
The Flyers are now 12-7-5 on the season! Next game is Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.