Canucks: Three takeaways from 5-4 shootout win over Philadelphia Flyers

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Philadelphia Pennsylvania is home to the Liberty Bell, famous cheesesteaks, and fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. It is also home to the Philadelphia Flyers who the Vancouver Canucks were facing on their second game of the season and second game of a six-game road trip.

Like a fight from a Rocky movie, the game was quite entertaining.

The Canucks got off to a slow start and were outshot 15-4 in the first. The Flyers were in control and the Canucks couldn’t get anything going. They were turning the puck over and spending a lot of time in their own zone. Joel Farabee opened the scoring for Flyers.

The Canucks were a lot better than in the second period. This time they were spending more time in the Flyers down and created a lot of scoring chances on Carter Hart. Vasily Podkolzin scored his first NHL goal, which was a filthy snipe.

Vasili Podkolzin absolutely rips it for his first career NHL goal #Canucks pic.twitter.com/eG0E5Avhzk
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) October 16, 2021

That was followed by power play goals from Elias Pettersson and Alex Chiasson. Cam Atkinson got one back for Philadelphia before J.T. Miller capitalized.

The Canucks could thank Carter Hart because he gave up a couple of strange goals.

Vancouver continued their strong play in the third period but it dwindled as the period went on. The Canucks played conservative in the closing stages of the third.

The Flyers eventually tied the game up with goals from Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux a minute and five seconds apart. However, those goals didn’t come without controversy.

The Flyers were given a power play when Oliver Ekman-Larsson got sent to the box for high sticking Konecny. He did get his stick up high but there was no contact. Konecny was hit by the puck. Ekman-Larsson clearly wasn’t happy with the call.

Can’t tell if OEL isn’t happy with the call or if he just saw a haunted creature emerge from the depths of the penalty box pic.twitter.com/sIWJaFe3Y9
— Mr Booth (@MrBooth07) October 16, 2021

That wasn’t the only head-scratcher. Bo Horvat tried to seal the game by shooting for the empty net. Matthew Highmore tried to win the race and it looked like he did but the linesmen decided to call icing.

Pettersson had two great chances to win it in overtime including a breakaway chance that was stopped by Carter Hart.

The game went to a shootout. Thatcher Demko stopped both Flyers attempts and Pettersson and Miller scored on both their attempts.

Without further ado, here are three takeaways from the Canucks 5-4 shootout win in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 15: J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks and Sean Couturier #14 of the Philadelphia Flyers faceoff during the second period at Wells Fargo Center on October 15, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /

#1 The power play capitalized

The power play despite scoring on its last attempt in Edmonton didn’t look really good.

In Philadelphia, the Canucks man advantage came to life. They ended up going two for four.

Pettersson scored the first power play goal and it went off Ivan Provorov’s leg, off the boards, and off Hart’s skate into the net.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1449170534009348096

Chiasson was signed for help on the power play. He has scored plenty of power play goals in the past and his 6’4″ 208-pound frame makes him a good net-front presence.

He finished the night with a 73 % Corsi For per NaturalStatTrick.

After the game against the Oilers, he was criticized for his lack of effort on the power play and poor defensive work.

In Philadelphia, he silenced the critics.

Chiasson was parked in front of the net and scored his first goal as a Canuck.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1449177266185977861

Apparently, Chiasson’s name was spelt wrong on his jersey.

They spelled Chiasson’s name wrong lmaooooooo pic.twitter.com/7UKv3dnqa0
— Jake Modugno (@phillycheezjake) October 16, 2021

The Canucks power play managed to get a lot of zone time and there weren’t too many problems on the breakout. They kept moving the puck around and made sure to get shots on Hart.

The power play didn’t look stale this time and hopefully, it continues to produce.

#2 Thatcher Demko was solid again

This takeaway is definitely going to be one that will keep coming back this season.

Demko picked off where he left off in Edmonton with another strong performance.

He kept the Canucks close in the first period when they weren’t doing well. odof

Perhaps his best save of the night was in the second period. After Quinn Hughes was checked on the blueline, Nate Thompson was on a shorthanded breakaway. Fortunately, Demko managed to prevent a Flyers shorthanded goal. Apparently, John Shorthouse was getting still used to Corey Hirsch as the colour commentator (John Garrett wasn’t in the booth due to COVID-19 protocols and is self-isolating.) that he thought Hirsch was the one who made the stop before realizing his mistake.

Demko made some great saves with his pads and he tracked the puck well to make saves just in the nick of time.

Fortunately, the Canucks gave him some goal support so he didn’t have to do the heavy lifting all game. Demko is going to need to be on form consistently and he just might be the Canucks most important player this season

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 15: Matthew Highmore #15 of the Vancouver Canucks shoves Joel Farabee #86 of the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at Wells Fargo Center on October 15, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /

#3 Garland and Höglander have a strong game

Conor Garland was acquired as part of the Ekman-Larsson trade to help bolster the top six.

It’s only been two games but he has impressed.

Garland displayed his skill and tenacity. He was taking away pucks from the Flyers and making moves all night. (He really loves the spin-o-rama.) Garland managed two shots on goal and was a thorn in the Flyers’ side for the whole game. He was like the Energizer Bunny all game.

Konecny seemed frustrated playing against him and called Garland “an angry little elf.”

He got an assist on Miller’s second period goal and finished the night with a 42% CF.

Like Garland, Höglander was winning puck battles and made the right play with the puck when he got. It felt like Höglander was everywhere. Every time, he was on the ice you couldn’t miss him. The 20-year-old was making crisp passes and displayed a fair bit of speed.

Just like the game in Edmonton, Höglander started the night on a line with Jason Dickinson and Highmore. Also, like the game in Edmonton, the Canucks got going when he was put on Miller and Pettersson’s line.

Satiar Shah of Sportsnet 650 described the Swede perfectly.

Höglander's like a defibrillator, bringing life back to every line he's on
— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) October 16, 2021

Höglander should be riding shotgun with Miller and Pettersson until Brock Boeser come back. He finished the night with a 52.94 CF percentage.

Other Notes

Speaking Boeser, he did skate with his teammates on Friday morning. It is still unclear if he will be ready for Saturday’s game in Detroit.
Kyle Burroughs looked good again. He was making simple but effective defensive plays.
Juho Lammikko is impressing on the fourth line so far. He was displaying good stick work and defensive awareness.

dark. Next. Canucks: Nils Höglander deserves to be in the top six and power play

The Canucks are right back at it on Saturday when they visit the Detroit Red Wings. Puck drop is at 4:00 PM

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