Philadelphia Flyers vs Vancouver Canucks Post Game Recap: Bullying The Broad Street Bullies

5 years ago

The Rundown

The Vancouver Canucks had been on a bit of a roll as they got ready to face the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. The Canucks’ record in the past 4 games was 3-0-1, and they looked to build on that against a team with 3 straight losses on their road trip.

Jakob Markstrom got the start in goal, and Adam Gaudette re-entered the lineup in place of Tim Schaller. Gaudette had recovered from the flu tonight to slot in, and looked to make an impact.

1st Period

Terrible start for the Canucks, as only 20 seconds in Nolan Patrick saw himself on a mini breakaway. Markstrom made the stick save and kept the Canucks from an early deficit.

The Canucks made Markstrom’s early stop worth it, as a little over 4 minutes in they took the lead. A great shift from Nikolay Goldobin, Bo Horvat, and Jake Virtanen was capped off by Chris Tanev. Tanev received a nifty back pass from Goldobin and dangled his way towards the Flyers goal before he squeaked a backhand shot under the arm of Anthony Stolarz for his 1st goal in over a calendar year.

The Canucks weren’t done, and 8 minutes into the period they got another one past Stolarz. Another good shift, this time from the Antoine Roussel, Gaudette, and Loui Eriksson line hemmed the Flyers in their own end. Alex Biega took a shot towards goal that was knocked down in front. Gaudette was able to tap the puck to Eriksson, who looked like a guy who’s used to scoring 20 goals a year, and sniped it past the young Flyers netminder for the 2 goal lead.

The 2nd Canucks goal led to an early end to the night for Stolarz, who was replaced by Alex Lyon. The goaltending change didn’t help too much, and 11 minutes in the Canucks took a commanding 3-0 lead. Josh Leivo picked up a puck in the slot, and skated towards the corner before he fired a puck off a Flyers defenders skate and over Lyon’s shoulder for his 3rd goal as a Canuck since being traded.

The Flyers caught a break 13 minutes into the period when Troy Stecher slashed a Philadelphia forward and took a minor penalty. What ensued was an awful Flyers power-play, which failed to record a shot on goal against a Canucks penalty kill which was 8 for 8 before tonight’s game. However, the Flyers got on the board after their dreadful power-play expired. Scott Laughton deflected the puck forward (It never sat down for him), and blew past Derrick Pouliot before he shelved a shot over Markstrom. The Canucks still led 3-1, but needed to be careful not to give up another one before the end of the period.

The Canucks accomplished the task, and finished the 1st period with a 3-1 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers. A lot to like in the period, but the Canucks couldn’t rest on just one period and needed to continue to play hard if they wanted to come out of tonight with another win.

2nd Period

The Flyers came out just as hard as they did in the first, and got their 2nd power-play of the night after Alex Edler cross-checked Jakob Voracek from behind 1:30 into the period. However, the Canucks penalty kill remained perfect in their last 10 chances, and the Canucks still led by 2.

7 minutes into the period, and the Flyers almost saw Michael Raffl go in on a breakaway. HOWEVER, Markstrom didn’t have any of that, and beat Raffl to the puck in the slot! Markstrom was hit by Raffl, but he made the play.

Credit where credit is due, the Flyers didn’t quit, and out-played the Canucks for the next 5 minute stretch, as they desperately tried to battle their way back into the hockey game.

12 minutes in though, and it was the Canucks who struck again. Boeser blasted a bomb through traffic and through the five-hole of Lyon. The goal was Boeser’s 7th in his past 8 games, and 11th overall on the year. Fun fact, Boeser had 11 goals in 22 games played last year, and tonight was his 22nd game of the season.

The Canucks picked up their play for the next 5 minutes, and it honestly looked like the Canucks had taken control of the hockey game. There was a great chance for the Flyers as the period winded down, when Gostisbehere jumped up on the play and unleashed a heavy wrister that got through Markstrom, but stayed out. The Canucks headed to the 3rd period with a 3 goal lead, and in the driver seat to win their 4th game in 5 contests.

3rd Period

The 3rd period started off a lot better for the Canucks than the previous 2. They controlled play well, and 2 minutes into the period the Canucks received their first power-play of the night after Sean Couturier struck Virtanen up high with his stick. It was the Flyers who had the best chance of the power-play however, as Laughton came in on another partial breakaway, but this time he was stopped by Markstrom not once, but twice. Power-play continued and the Canucks looked dreadful. To no one’s surprise, they failed to convert.

5:30 minutes in, and Markstrom made another quality save, this time off a Couturier shot. Another quality save from Markstrom, who looked for his 5th win in his past 7 starts.

8:30 minutes in, and Tyler Motte took his first penalty of the season. He slashed Couturier, and the Flyers went to their 3rd power-play of the game. They were unable to beat the Canucks penalty kill in their previous 2 attempts.

The Canucks only had to kill off 1:35 of the Flyers power-play before Philadelphia took another penalty of their own. A frustrated Couturier slashed Tanev after he broke up a play, and the Canucks headed to their 2nd power-play of the night after 25 seconds of 4 on 4.

The Canucks power-play continued to look absolutely dreadful, and fell to 0 for 2.

Wouldn’t see much action till the 13th minute of the game, when Jay Beagle got his name on the score sheet after he held Patrick. Beagle’s penalty meant the Flyers power-play went to work for the 4th time in the game. On the 4th power-play, the Canucks had the best chance of the period. Eriksson and Motte came down the ice on a 2 on 1 which started after Eriksson intercepted a Claude Giroux pass in the Canucks zone. Eriksson made a great pass over to Motte, but Motte was denied by Lyon on his backhand, and the score remained 4-1. Eriksson followed up Motte’s chance with one of his own on the next play, but his shot was swatted out of the air by the blocker of Lyon.

The Canucks killed off the penalty, and Markus Granlund iced the game with an empty netter only 16:30 minutes into the final frame. The Canucks closed the game out effectively, and wound up with the 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Advanced Stats

Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

Wrap Up

The Canucks had themselves a great game tonight. Lots to like from a young team that took it to a tired Flyers team.

Adam Gaudette had himself a game this evening. He had 3 looks in the 1st period that should’ve resulted in some goals, but wasn’t able to finish them off. Also laid the body almost every chance he could, and flashed some skill at various points throughout the game. He’s gotten better every game this year, and is close to a true breakout performance. Didn’t look like a player that had recently recovered from the flu.

Nikolay Goldobin had some quality juice tonight. The young Russian made a ton of great plays, and the back-pass he made to Tanev was beautiful. Also, he never got taken off the Horvat line tonight, and looked like he earned the respect of Green. Even if it’s just for tonight, that in itself was a positive development.

There are a lot of other players who had solid nights, but the penalty kill of this team has been perfect recently, and was instrumental in the win. The Canucks killed off all 4 Flyers power-plays, and didn’t give the road team any quality looks. Sure, Gostisbehere unleashed some rockets from the point, but Markstrom read all of them and made the saves look fairly routine. The Canucks came into tonight 8 for 8, and came out 12 for 12. A massive reason why the team has gone 4-0-1 in their past 5 games.

Ultimately, just a great game for the Canucks tonight. Their power-play was horrendous, but the rest of their game was on point. All in all, a fun night for Canucks’ fans.

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