With a hostile Philadelphia crowd on their side and the sting of a third-period meltdown still fresh in their minds, the Vancouver Canucks pulled themselves together and believed the best was yet to come.
“It’s a bouncy building, we’re on the road, anything can happen,” said forward J.T. Miller.
How does a win in a shootout two nights after a loss in a shootout sound?
On Friday night, Elias Pettersson and Miller scored shootout goals, and Vancouver scored four times in the second period to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4.
In the Flyers’ season opener, Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux scored in the closing 2:17 of regulation to tie the game 4-4 and send the fans into a frenzy.
After losing in a shootout to Edmonton in the season opener, Vancouver won their first game of the season.
“I don’t believe they gave us our lives back,” Miller remarked. “Once you reach overtime, anything can happen. We did it two nights ago to a team. It’s all part of the fun.”
In the second period, Vasily Podkolzin scored his first NHL goal, while Alex Chiasson also scored against Carter Hart. Chiasson’s one-year contract in Vancouver paid $750,000, but there was no spellcheck. His name was spelled “Chaisson” with the I and a flipped on his shirt. Playing for the name on the front of the shirt, not the misspelt one on the back, he showed grit. In the second, Pettersson and Miller both scored.
For the Canucks, Thatcher Demko was unable to keep the lead.
With 2:17 remaining, Konecny scored to make it 4-3, and the Flyers pulled Hart for the extra attacker. The strategy paid off as Giroux knotted the game with his second goal in 1 minute, 5 seconds, beating Demko.
Until then, the Canucks, playing in their first game in the United States since March 1, 2020, looked at home and pounced on Hart in a disastrous second period.
The 23-year-old Hart, who was once regarded the franchise goaltender, couldn’t overcome last season’s regression in the season opener. When Hart dropped a puck that was resting against his skate, Miller was able to poke it in for a 4-2 advantage.
To close the period, the Flyers were booed off the ice — only 24 hours after the Philadelphia Eagles were booed off the field in a loss — and the early returns on a Hart rebound were not positive.
“You’ll receive a lot of bounces that aren’t in your favour. We got a couple of bounces to go our way at the end,” Hart said.
The Canucks dropped their season opener, but it was the end of a five-game winning streak for the Flyers. The Flyers revamped their roster in the offseason, acquiring Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen in trades and adding Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard in free agency. In addition, the Flyers signed backup goalkeeper Martin Jones and acquired forward Cam Atkinson in a trade.
Because of the alterations, the Flyers may take some time to gel.
“That reluctance that we might have right now in our game is going to go gone,” Giroux added.
In the second period, Atkinson scored his first goal with the Flyers, bringing the score to 3-2. The Flyers also got a goal from Joel Farabee, who recently inked a six-year, $30 million contract extension.
Fans gathered hours before the game to tailgate, and the place was packed for the opener. Gritty whipped up an orange frenzy, and when Farabee scored first, the new goal song “This Girl” kept the party going.
When Elias Pettersson smacked one off the back wall and into the net for a 2-1 advantage, Hart failed to cover the post and Podkolzin, the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draught, snapped a wrister for his milestone goal.
As the puck slid past Hart, Chiasson scored from his knees. Miller was the one who got the easy poke.
“For the most part, I’ve enjoyed at least five of our first six periods. It’s great to see our men receive recognised tonight “Travis Green, the coach of the Vancouver Canucks, stated.
JIMMY HAYES REMEMBERED
Giroux was one of a few players that had “Be Like Jimmy” written on his skates in honour of Jimmy Hayes, a former NHL player and brother of Flyers centre Kevin Hayes. Jimmy Hayes, 31, was discovered dead inside his home last summer at the age of 31. After undergoing stomach surgery, Kevin Hayes will be gone for a few more weeks.
COMING UP NEXT
On Saturday night, the Canucks will play in Detroit.
On Monday night, the Flyers host former coach Dave Hakstol and the Seattle Kraken.
(With inputs from FOX News.)
The Chenab Times News Desk