Canucks 4, Flyers 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Center Bo Horvat scored one goal and assisted on another as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the fading Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 Monday night.
Rookie right winger Jake Virtanen recorded his first NHL goal, and right winger Jannik Hansen also scored for the Canucks (6-2-4). Vancouver defenseman Matt Bartkowski scored into an empty net with 53 seconds left.
Center Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers (4-5-2), who lost their fourth consecutive game (0-3-1). The loss also was Philadelphia's fourth on the road (1-3-1).
Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller stopped 27 shots. Philadelphia goalie Steve Mason made 30 saves.
Virtanen, 19, gave Vancouver a 3-1 lead at 8:28 of the third. Defenseman Ben Hutton fed him a cross-ice pass, and Virtanen used his speed to break into the Flyers' zone. He cut in front of the goal and beat Mason with a shot under the blocker.
The teams exchanged second-period goals, and Vancouver took a 2-1 into the third.
Giroux showed his strength on a Philadelphia goal that tied the game 1-1 at 2:54 of the second. He took a pass from just outside the blue line from right winger Jakub Voracek, then with Bartkowski hanging all over him, bulldozed his way to the net and managed to backhand a shot past Miller.
The goal was Giroux's first in five games and his fourth of the season.
Horvat showed some power of his own to put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 10:10 of the second. He swooped behind the Flyers' net, fought off Philadelphia defenseman Mark Streit and snapped a shot past Mason for his second goal of the season.
The Canucks came close again later in the period. A shot from Virtanen trickled past Mason and was heading into the net before being swept off the goal line by center Chris VandeVelde.
It took the Canucks just 68 seconds to open the scoring in the first period.
Left winger Sven Baertschi scooped up a loose puck at the blue line and fed it to Horvat. He passed to a streaking Hansen, who made a pretty move on Mason and tucked the puck into the open corner of the net.
It was the fourth consecutive game in which Vancouver scored the first goal.
NOTES: The Canucks won't send rookie C Jared McCann and RW Jake Virtanen back to their junior teams. ... Vancouver RW Alex Burrows played in his 700th NHL game. ... Canucks D Dan Hamhuis returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Canucks D Luca Sbisa was out with a lower-body injury. ... Vancouver LW Sven Baertschi returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for one game. ... Canucks C Brendan Gaunce was a healthy scratch.... The Flyers recalled RW Chris Conner from AHL Lehigh Valley, but he didn't dress against Vancouver. ... Philadelphia D Evgeny Medvedev was a healthy scratch. ... The top line of C Claude Giroux, RW Jakub Voracek and LW Michael Raffl were reunited. ... C Vincent Lecavalier was dropped to the third line. ... C Sean Couturier (concussion) and LW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (lower body) didn't dress.... The Flyers play in Edmonton on Tuesday. Vancouver's next game is Wednesday against Pittsburgh.