Flyers 2, Canucks 0
PHILADELPHIA -- Goalie Steve Mason returned to form Thursday night, recording his first shutout of the season and leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks at Wells Fargo Center.
Mason, who had not started since Dec. 8, when he allowed three goals on 10 shots before being yanked, made 36 saves as the Flyers (14-12-6) improved to 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.
Left winger Michael Raffl and center Sean Couturier provided the goals for Philadelphia.
The Canucks (11-14-8) saw their road woes continue, as they have dropped the first three games of a six-game trip. Even worse, Vancouver is 1-7-3 in its past 11 road games, a stretch in which it was outscored 37-16.
On the current road trip, the Canucks have been outscored 12-2.
Vancouver backup goalie Jacob Markstrom (1-3-2) stopped 30 shots but received little help.
Canucks center Henrik Sedin left the game and did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period.
Couturier iced the game with less than three minutes remaining when he scored off a rebound, assisted by right winger Wayne Simmonds and left winger Jakub Voracek.
As a Flyers power play expired at 16:45 of the first period -- the game's first man advantage -- defenseman Evgeny Medvedev fired a shot from the point and Raffl deflected it high past Markstrom for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead.
After the Flyers jumped on top, they had a golden chance to extend their lead with a five-on-three courtesy of two Canucks penalties. However, Vancouver impressively held its ground by killing off both penalties before the first intermission.
Philadelphia appeared to take a 2-0 lead in the second period when center Claude Giroux, on a breakaway, clanged one off the crossbar for what was initially ruled a goal but was overturned after an official review.
At the tail end of the second period, the Canucks went on a five-on-three advantage of their own, but Mason fended it off while highlighting the sequence with a sprawling glove save on defenseman Alexander Edler.
NOTES: Canucks backup G Jacob Markstrom received his sixth start and first since Dec. 5. Starting G Ryan Miller was pulled from his previous start on Dec. 15 when he surrendered six goals in 40 minutes. ... D Luke Schenn (lower body), C Sam Gagner (upper body) and D Mark Streit (groin) remained out of the Flyers' lineup. D Luca Sbisa (hand), C Brandon Sutter (sports hernia) and D Dan Hamhuis (facial fracture) were out of the Canucks' lineup. ... Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier, Canucks D Andrey Pedan and Canucks LW Ronalds Kenins were healthy scratches.