Larry Henry Jr
The Philadelphia Flyers used a late rally to capture two points Friday night in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place.
Cam York’s third period equalizing goal helped force a shootout before Morgan Frost scored the decisive goal in the fifth round. Goaltender Samuel Ersson made 24 saves as the Flyers picked up a crucial two points to begin their four-game road trip.
Nils Hoglander struck first for the Canucks at 12:55 in the first period but the Flyers would tie things up 1-1 after scoring on the power play. Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee connected with Tyson Foerster with 2:36 remaining in the first period watching as Foerster netted his first goal of the new season.
Ersson was busy early, making 11 of 12 first-period saves to keep the Flyers from falling behind.
Teddy Blueger’s tip-in goal at 11:25 in the second period propelled Rick Tocchet’s men back in front at 2-1.
However, the Flyers would force overtime early in the third period as defenseman Cam York rifled home his 16th career regular season goal past Kevin Lankinen.
“We just wanted to grind them out,” Farabee told reporters about the Flyers gameplan for Friday’s opener. “Obviously, they went down to 5 D pretty early and we kind of knew that, so we really just wanted to grind them out down low, tire them out and obviously, [York] comes up with a big goal there, to tie it up and [Ersson] just locked it down from there.”
💥 BANG 💥 @camyork2 uncorks one! 🎯#PHIvsVAN | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/2p5bkgDcjb
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 12, 2024
Both goaltenders were up to the task in the shootout before Jake DeBrusk and Travis Konecny both lit the lamp in the third round. After Connor Garland and Brock Boeser were both denied by Ersson, Frost played the hero by sealing the 2-1 shootout scoreline for the Orange and Black.
“Kind of done that one a few times before, just going in pretty slow and on a weird angle and trying to freeze him, and just trying to pick my spot,” Frost told reporters postgame on his winning goal. “Luckily, it went in. Definitely made a few mistakes out there, and [one] penalty that I’d like to have back, so to get the shootout winner feels good.”
Rise and shine, Philly. ☀️ pic.twitter.com/mYHaqsq0wR
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 12, 2024
2023 and 2024 first round draft picks Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko both made their NHL debuts in the game for the Flyers. Luchanko finished with a -1 on the night in 14:36 of ice time while Michkov registered four shots in 18:32.
The Flyers are back in action Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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