The Vancouver Canucks (2-1-0) travelled down to the United States for the first time this season, squaring off with the Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-0) in their home opener. Former Canucks head coach John Tortorella had his Flyers ready to play, and they gave their loyal supporters a show with the Phillies also playing in the NLCS at the same time. The Canucks did not.
An ice-cold start to the first period set Vancouver back early; young defenseman Yegor Zamula scored less than two minutes into the game to give the hosts a near-instant 1-0 lead. The Canucks would eventually settle in and start winning the shot battle, until Noah Juulsen handed Sean Couturier a penalty shot by taking a foolish penalty.
The 2019 Selke Trophy winner was able to deceive Thatcher Demko by briefly facing backwards before deftly firing a snap shot off the inside of the far post and into the net. Demko, meanwhile, stopped the other 40 shots that came his way, and the Canucks really couldn’t have asked any more of him. The American netminder was a brick wall in what certainly seems to be a bounce-back season from him.
Thatcher Demko has been a freak tonight. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/kmN4rguXV4
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 18, 2023
And, while it’s nice that some moral victories can be had in spite of this loss, the Canucks’ season is more than those first two wins against the Edmonton Oilers. Losses are bound to happen, but in this particular instance, the effort from start to finish was dire. If there was a textbook way to lose a hockey game, the Canucks’ performance against the Flyers is probably it.