Flyers shut out by Canucks in home opener

Back on home ice, the Flyers were hoping that the home crowd would give them the juice they needed to get back to their winning ways. With three straight losses to end the road trip, they were in need of a victory.

It didn’t start off too well for them as Vancouver had the first six shots of the game. Philadelphia didn’t register their first shot until nearly six minutes into the first. And they only finished with seven shots in the period. The Canucks ended with 15 and the 1-0 lead.

The Flyers seemed to find their legs in the second period, but couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances. Kevin Lankinen had plenty to do with that. His saves allowed Vancouver to open things up with two goals in the second period.

It was the same story in the third period. Philadelphia started hot and created scoring chances. They actually outshot Vancouver 7-4 in the period as their opponent was rather content to let time go off the clock. But missed opportunities and the play of Lankinen left them with no goals to end their home opener with a 3-0 shutout loss to Vancouver.

It’s hard to fault Sam Ersson as he was left out to dry at times. He did his best to keep the Flyers in the game with numerous big saves. On the opening goal, Nils Hoglander was left wide open at the side of the net as Ersson was focused on a potential shot from Elias Pettersson. Instead, the latter found Hoglander for the slam dunk goal.

But Ersson was under siege, facing 28 shots in the first two periods. He wasn’t the problem tonight.

While there were times that the Flyers were able to create offense, they looked disjointed at times and couldn’t keep control of the puck. It’s also a concerning trend that a player like Owen Tippett has had so many chances, but has failed to capitalize on them.

It’s still early in the season so the time to panic has not arrived. But it’s those moments of sloppy play that allow teams like the Canucks to take advantage.

Canucks score twice in 50 seconds 

The Canucks opened the game up in the second period and it only took them 50 seconds to do so. It was a sensational play by Tyler Myers who was appearing in his 1,000th game. He sent a no-look, between the legs pass to Brock Boeser at the side of the net. Ersson couldn’t get the pad stretched out enough to block it.

The third goal came fast as Teddy Blueger won the face off to Kieffer Sherwood who quickly fired a shot on the net and past Ersson.

That’s all Vancouver needed as they played keep away for the latter half of the third period, content to watch the seconds roll off the clock. They only took four shots in the final 20 minutes as there was no rush to make anything happen as the game got later and later.

The Flyers did get better and had some great chances on Lankinen. But the Vancouver netminder was not to be beat tonight.

Lankinen has been a good story for Vancouver. Stepping in with Thatcher Demko out, he has won two of his three games and has a 1.28 GAA and a .953 SV%.

The Flyers will be back on home ice against the Capitals on Tuesday. Washington has started the season with three wins in their first four games.