Flyers rally past Canucks for shootout win
PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux scored the only goal of the shootout and Michael Neuvirth stopped Markus Granlund, Bo Horvat and Loui Eriksson in the tiebreaker, giving the Philadelphia Flyers a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Travis Konecny, Pierre-Edouard Bellmare, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn scored regulation goals for the Flyers, who won for just the second time in eight games (2-5-2).
Neuvirth, who entered the game in the third period in relief of starter Steve Mason (four goals on 24 shots), stopped 13 shots and picked up the win to improve to 6-2-0.
Ryan Miller (12-10-3) took the loss for the Canucks, who received two goals from Markus Granlund, a goal and an assist from Brandon Sutter and Daniel Sedin, and two assists from Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher.
The Canucks have now lost three straight (0-2-1) since a season-high six-game win streak.
The Canucks entered the game with the NHL's fourth-worst power play, but with the help of Flyers defensemen Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto, they took a 2-1 lead on power-play goals by Sedin and Granlund.
Manning and Del Zotto each took six minutes in penalties in the opening period, including two double minors for high sticking. The Canucks, who had netted just two power-play goals in their previous six games, took advantage.
The second period was a wild one, with the teams trading leads and combining for five goals, including two by Granlund.
The Flyers grabbed a 3-2 lead when Bellemare and Couturier scored just 18 seconds apart. But the Canucks answered quickly when Granlund tied the score with his second of the game and 11th of the season at the 10:01 mark, just 42 seconds after Couturier gave the Flyers a short-lived lead.
Sutter gave the Canucks their third lead of the game 12:46 into the second period with his 12th goal of the season, taking advantage of a two-on-one with Jayson Megna, but a slashing penalty to Canucks center Michael Chaput with four seconds remaining in the second period led to Schenn's tying power-play goal 57 seconds into the third period. The goal was Schenn's third in as many games.
NOTES: Flyers D Radko Gudas was a healthy scratch in favor of D Nick Schultz, who had been a healthy scratch the previous two games. ... The Flyers and Canucks face each other once more on Feb. 19 in Vancouver. ... Canucks All-Star Bo Horvat and Flyers rookie Travis Konecny are second cousins. Horvat's mother and Konecny's father are first cousins. ... Henrik Sedin is three points shy of 1,000. ... The Flyers hit the road this weekend for games Saturday in Boston and Sunday in Washington, then have a five-day break, followed by back-to-backs against the Devils and Islanders. "It's the most asinine thing I've ever seen," Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Wednesday. ... The Canucks return home to face the Devils on Sunday and continue their three-game homestand with games against Predators and Panthers.