Two NHL starts and the Flyers win another season opener, this one in a shootout originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers’ season-opening trick continued Friday night.
John Tortorella’s club kicked off the 2024-25 campaign with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Morgan Frost won it in the fifth round of the skills competition. Travis Konecny kept the Flyers alive after Jake DeBrusk scored for the Canucks to open the third round.
The Flyers improved to 8-0-2 in their last 10 season openers and 3-0-0 under Tortorella.
Tyson Foerster and Cam York scored the Flyers’ goals. York came through 2:48 minutes into the third period to tie the game.
Samuel Ersson was very good in front of the net.
The Flyers have won their last three meetings against Vancouver, who fell to 0-0-2 on the season.
The two teams will meet again in just over a week when the Flyers host the Canucks for their home opener next Saturday.
• The Flyers’ roster featured 12 players aged 25 or younger, highlighted by the NHL debuts of Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko.
Michkov showed how he finds another gear when the match comes later. The 19-year-old winger had four shots in the third period after having none in the first two periods.
He started to really create with a draw at 2-2. One of his looks turned into a rebound opportunity for Luchanko. He also crossed the legs for a close shot on the power play.
Michkov committed a penalty but essentially drew two. He played 18:32 minutes and was pretty good even if he didn’t score.
Luchanko, who turned 18 just two months ago, became the youngest player in franchise history to make his NHL debut. The speedy center had one shot and a minus-1 rating in 14:36 minutes.
He was a little late in coverage when Teddy Blueger gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead in the second period. Overall, though, Luchanko didn’t seem outdated or out of place.
• In his first start of the season, Ersson recorded 24 saves on 26 shots. Eight of those saves came on five unsuccessful Vancouver power plays.
The Canucks took a 1-0 lead in the first period after Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan Poehling failed to connect on a defensive zone exit, leading to a turnover and a wide-open look for Nils Hoglander .
Even with the goal, Ersson was huge in the first period, stopping 11 of 12 shots.
Poehling helped make up for that incident by helping York tie the game in the third period.
Ersson continued what he did during the preseason (67 saves on 69 shots). This is a proving year for the soon-to-be 25-year-old as he begins his first full season as number one. The Flyers have always liked his mindset.
“I understand that nothing will be given to me here,” Ersson said on Tuesday. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not how things work, you still have to win everything, especially in this league. You have to put gas and go all the time.”
Carter Hart started in the team’s first five games of the season. The Flyers parted ways with the franchise goaltender this summer as the Hockey Canada sexual assault case unfolds.
Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen stopped 29 of the Flyers’ 31 shots. He held off Michkov, Foerster and Sean Couturier in the shootout.
• The Flyers’ power play, a huge scenario before the seasonstarted 1 for 1 with Foerster’s tying goal in the first half. It went 1 for 4 on the night.
The Flyers nearly started 2 for 2, but Joel Farabee failed to convert a slam dunk on the doorstep in the second period. The 24-year-old knew he missed it. But it was also thanks to him that the Flyers scored on their first power play when he delivered a perfect pass to Foerster.
Last season, the Flyers’ power play started 1 for 20 and finished the year with the worst rate in the league, 12.2 percent.
• After playing just 1:52 shorthanded all last season, Owen Tippett played 1:53 shorthanded in the first game.
You have to think that the Flyers believe that his speed can put a lot of pressure on an opposing power play. And Tippett is now one of the Flyers’ highest-paid forwards, so they’ll likely look for him to be an all-situation player.
• Nick Seeler was placed on injured reserve, a stay that will be backdated to October 1. when he hit the peroneal nerve of his right leg with a puck. The second-pairing defenseman is considered day-to-day, but the Flyers recalled Emil Andrae, who was the team’s extra defenseman Friday night.
Erik Johnson replaced Seeler and played 15:45 minutes.
• The Flyers will be back in action Saturday when they visit the Flames for Calgary’s home opener (10 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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