After what felt like the longest off-season, the Flyers finally look the ice for opening night. They welcomed in the Vancouver Canucks, a team they haven’t played since 2019.
It was all Philadelphia to start as the Flyers were buzzing up and down the lineup. They had good puck possession in the offensive zone and were firing shot after shot on Thatcher Demko. An early power play was where they really went to work.
It was the second unit that had the better of the chances as they started the man advantage and ended it as well. It was newcomer Ryan Ellis who slapped one from the point over to Joel Farabee who was waiting along the right circle. He wound up and fired a shot that deflected in off a Canucks player in front and into the back of the net. It came a few seconds after the power play ended so it went down as an even strength goal.
So Farabee kicked off the season with the Flyers’ first goal. He led the team in scoring a season ago and could be poised to take another big step forward this year. The Flyers continued their strong play the rest of the way and had a big edge in puck possession by the end of the first period. They were up 14-5 in shots and 1-0 where it counted. It looked like they were ready to play.
All of that fell completely apart in the second period, though. It was not a period to remember as the Canucks came storming back and put up three unanswered goals, adding in a fourth before the period came to an end. Two of them came via the man advantage as Carter Hart looked shaky in net, not something Philadelphia wanted to see after a tough season for him last year.
Keith Yandle was caught flat footed a bit as Tyler Myers came into the zone. The Flyers’ defender wasn’t able to regain his stride as Vasily Podkolzin had plenty of open space to skate in and fire a shot from the circle. It was the first NHL goal of his career.
Less than two minutes later, Elias Pettersson got in on the fun as well off a wacky bounce off the boards. Hart wasn’t able to seal off the post completely as the puck bounced off of his skate and in. Pettersson’s wrist shot never made it on net but the goal would end us as his.
It went from bad to worse as Alex Chiasson, who signed a contract after his professional try out deal with Vancouver, was able to knock the puck in with Hart down on a 5-on-3 power play. Chiasson originally tried to direct the pass from J.T. Miller through Hart’s five hole. While down, the puck kicked off of Chiasson’s skate and slowly slide across the line. A period after the Flyers had the dominant play, the Canucks said anything you can do, I can do better.
Philadelphia wasn’t ready to call it quits just yet. A good keep at the line by Yandle found Derick Brassard behind the net. He flipped it right over to Farabee who then got it right to Cam Atkinson in front. Atkinson fought through traffic and powered home his first goal in a Philadelphia uniform. Just like that, there was some life back in the Wells Fargo Center.
And just like the second period had gone before, it was Vancouver who increased the lead by two once again. This was a tough one for Hart to swallow as he simply lost sight of a Pettersson shot in close. It was Miller who found it on the goal line as Hart was turning, trying to find it. It was not a goal to remember for Hart and certainly a period he would like to forget as well.
It was once again almost all Vancouver in the third period. Hart was able to keep it a two-goal deficit but Demko wouldn’t allow it to get any closer as well. The Flyers were forced to empty the net with under three minutes to play and still down by two. They were given a golden opportunity moments later when Travis Konecny took a stick up high with under two and a half to go.
It was Konecny who got the Flyers to within one seconds into the power play. Yandle set up Sean Couturier but the original shot was blocked. The puck went right to Konecny and he made no mistake. And with an emphatic celebration, it was a one goal game. Philadelphia wasn’t ready to go home yet, though.
After emptying the net again, Couturier banked the puck off the back boards to a waiting Claude Giroux. He roofed the puck off Demko’s head and shoulder and this one headed to overtime. This came after a hustle play to force an icing by the Canucks as Bo Horvat tried to ice the game himself with an empty netter. Two goals in 65 seconds put the Flyers right back in it.
Pettersson had a chance to end it in overtime after he was sent in on a breakaway after a failed Flyers two-on-one. He wanted to split the legs of Hart but the Philadelphia goaltender wouldn’t allow it. After the two teams traded chances, it was Vancouver who carried the last few minutes. They hemmed the Flyers in for almost two minutes but Hart made some big saves to keep this one going. It was quite the recovery for him after the second period.
It would take a shootout to decide this one once and for all. And it was Vancouver who scored twice to take the extra point. It ended a streak of five consecutive home opening wins for Philadelphia. The Flyers will have a few days off before they’re back on the ice Monday against the Seattle Kraken.