Flyers flat in dwelling opener, shut out by Canucks

Flyers flat in home opener, shut out by Canucks initially appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

After wrapping up a four-game highway journey Thursday in Seattle and flying dwelling Friday, the Flyers simply did not have it for Saturday night time’s dwelling opener.

They weren’t sharp they usually have been outplayed in a 3-0 blanking to the Canucks on the Wells Fargo Middle.

“We bought sufficient time to organize and prepare for this one,” Scott Laughton mentioned, not utilizing the schedule as an excuse. “Particularly the house opener, you’ve got bought a whole lot of juice. It did not translate. It sucks proper now, however we’re nonetheless early within the yr, we nonetheless must work on a ton of issues and get higher. And we’ll.”

The Flyers have dropped 4 of their opening 5 video games for the primary time since 2014-15, once they began 1-2-2.

John Tortorella’s membership has given up 4.20 objectives per recreation on this 1-3-1 begin.

“I believed we have had some good minutes within the first 5 video games,” Tortorella mentioned. “We will simply coach, they’re going to have tomorrow off, we return Monday to apply and prepare to play our subsequent recreation. We won’t do something with what occurred the previous couple of video games right here. We have simply bought to attempt to get higher as a staff — that is all you are able to do.”

The Flyers cut up their two-game regular-season sequence with the Canucks (2-1-2). They beat Vancouver a little bit over per week in the past with a 3-2, season-opening shootout decision.

“Clearly it is a robust turnaround. However robust turnaround or not, it is our dwelling opener, we have got to return out with a whole lot of power,” Samuel Ersson mentioned of touring Friday from the West Coast. “I really feel like possibly we did not. It is undoubtedly one thing we should always have executed.”

• Making the primary home-opening begin of his NHL profession, Ersson transformed 29 saves on 32 photographs. The Flyers had breakdowns.

“We got here out a little bit flat, they dictated the play within the first,” Erik Johnson mentioned. “We appeared a little bit bit disconnected at 5-on-5, in our D-zone particularly. No excuses, we now have to be higher.”

Ersson surrendered two objectives in a 50-second span of the second interval because the Canucks seized full management. The Flyers, trailing 1-0 earlier than that, made a concerted push to open the center stanza however got here up empty. Vancouver then took the wind out of the Flyers’ sails with these back-to-back objectives.

“Ers offers us an opportunity, Ers performed nice,” Laughton mentioned. “He performs nice each recreation and provides us an opportunity. So we’ll get again to the drafting board.”

Ersson, who celebrates his twenty fifth birthday Sunday, beat the Canucks within the season opener with 24 saves.

Vancouver netminder Kevin Lankinen stopped all 26 of the Flyers’ photographs for the shutout.

“At 5-on-5, I believe we’re not creating sufficient off the push,” Sean Couturier mentioned. “Within the zone, we’re a whole lot of one-and-done. Clearly we have got to attempt to discover some chemistry and get some strains going, then we will form of take over time of possession and management extra of the play and make it a little bit simpler on ourselves.”

• In his first regular-season recreation on the Wells Fargo Middle, Matvei Michkov created some appears regardless of going scoreless.

With the Flyers down solely 1-0 within the second interval, the 19-year-old winger delivered a powerful cross to Johnson proper by the crease however the veteran defenseman could not join on it. If the Flyers tied the sport there, the momentum may have shifted earlier than the Canucks may seize it.

“It was completely an ideal cross, I’ve simply watched the replay a number of occasions,” Johnson mentioned. “I do not know if it clips the goalie’s pad or not, however proper earlier than it may hit my blade, it hops. S–tty luck.”

Michkov additionally had a pleasant look to Travis Konecny on a third-period energy play. For the primary time by 5 video games, the Flyers’ energy play did not rating a objective. It went 0 for 3 after going 5 for 19 over the season-opening road trip.

Jett Luchanko, additionally taking part in his first regular-season recreation in Philadelphia, has gone scoreless by 4 video games with three photographs.

• In an attention-grabbing transfer, Tortorella had Couturier open the game on the left wing of the fourth line.

The 31-year-old captain moved again to heart across the halfway mark of the sport as the top coach began mixing and matching. The Flyers had simply fallen into their 3-0 gap and have been looking for any form of a spark.

“We have been a little bit sloppy, a little bit disjointed,” Tortorella mentioned. “Because the second interval went on, I believe once we moved the strains round a little bit bit, we began creating some offense. Hit some posts, some nearly performs. Performed higher as the sport went on, however we lose it.”

• Nick Seeler missed a fifth straight recreation after taking a puck to the peroneal nerve in his right leg on Oct. 1. The second-pair defenseman was positioned on injured reserve a little bit over per week in the past and has been thought-about everyday.

The Flyers have missed him. Relationship again to final season when he missed time in March, the Flyers have gone 5-8-3 and surrendered 4.07 objectives per recreation and 13 energy play objectives with out Seeler.

“He is a very good participant for us,” Tortorella mentioned. “Vitality-wise, penalty killing, simply the emotion on the bench. He is a very good participant for us. We miss him.”

• The Flyers are again in motion Tuesday once they host the Capitals (6 p.m. ET/ESPN).

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