Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Philadelphia Flyers shutout the Vancouver Canucks in their season home opener at the Farg by the score of 2-0. It was a super busy night down by the stadiums here in Philly tonight. The Phillies were playing the Diamondbacks right across the street in game two of the National League Championship series. And as if that wasn’t enough there was a soccer match between Mexico and Germany at the Link. Holy cow.
Zamula’s 1st NHL goal
The Flyers started the game with a bang. They had Vancouver backed into their own end right from the opening faceoff. The first shift was taken yet again by the 4th line of Ryan Poehling, Garnet Hathaway, and Nicolas Deslauriers. They set the tone right off the bat keeping Vancouver reeling and had goaltender Thatcher Demko flipping and flopping across his own crease. The second line kept the pressure on as did the third. The Flyers lines were almost indistinguishable as they sustained the pressure until Egor Zamula scored his first NHL goal.
Scott Laughton sent a pass to Travis Konecny in the slot. Konecny whiffed on the one-timer and the puck ended up reaching Zamula at the point. Egor had plenty of traffic in front to set up the screen. The rule of thumb is if you can’t see the goalie he can’t see you either. The high percentage shot in this situation is to put the puck about a foot and a half off the ice glove side. The goalie is probably going to drop into the butterfly with their arms outstretched when they can’t see the shooter. They are just trying to cover as much of the net as possible and hopefully the puck just hits them. So just over the pad and under the glove by the post is the ideal spot and that is exactly where Zamula put it.
Couturier’s 1st NHL penalty shot goal
Sean Couturier missed practice yesterday and folks were wondering if we would see him tonight for the home opener. Coots was in the line-up and he had a really solid game at both ends of the ice. Towards the end of the 1st period he was hooked from behind on his way to the net and was awarded a penalty shot.
His approach was slow and deliberate. He started off skating way to the right side of the ice and then as he was cutting back towards the net he switched to skating backwards with the puck on the backhand of his stick. As he approached the net he switched from backhand to forehand and put the puck behind Demko far side for the 1st penalty shot goal of his career. After the game he was asked about the unique move. He joked that he had plenty of time to come up with it since he did not play at all last season.
The line-up
Morgan Frost was a healthy scratch tonight. Both Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster were in. Brink continues to impress, he has a real knack for being where the puck is headed. He is playing with confidence, winning battles for the puck, and he had four shots on goal. Rasmus Ristolainen is still sidelined with an injury yet Emil Andrae did not play tonight either.
Standouts
Scott Laughton led the team with six shots on goal. He also played a part in the best save of the night. Laughton and Noah Cates were skating in on a 2-on-1. Cates put the perfect pass on Laughton’s stick. Laughton put the perfect shot on net. Most of the Flyers Fans were already on their feet when they realized the puck was in Demko’s glove. Highway robbery.
Nicolas Deslauriers was a standout all night long. Nick had a great physical game landing some of the best checks of the game. He was moving the puck around adeptly. He had a few shots on goal and at one point he raced back on defense to break up a dangerous Vancouver rush.
Carter Hart was not tested nearly as much as Thatcher Demko but he earned the shutout and in the end that’s all that counts. Hart looked solid between the pipes even though he he spent a lot of time especially during the 2nd period where he rarely got to touch the puck.
Extra Credit: The Flyers outshot the Canucks 42-25. In the second period alone the shots were 23-2 in favor of the Flyers. The Flyers dominated their home opener and looked much more like the team that opened the season against Columbus than the one that lost in Ottawa on Saturday.
