VANCOUVER, British Columbia – On a night when the Canucks celebrated the legacy of their former NBA partner in this rink – the Grizzlies – they also extended the Flyers' frustration.
The Canucks extended the Flyers' losing skid to four games with a 4-1 victory at Rogers Arena.
This was the second of the Flyers' five-game road trip and first of four games in Western Canada before moving back east.
Bo Horvat scored four-on-four midway into the second period to break a 1-1 tie after Claude Giroux and Daniel Sedin both went to the box, even though Sedin was all over Giroux from behind him.
Giroux got tagged for holding Sedin’s stick.
The Flyers failed to score on a carryover power play in the third period. Soon after, rookie Jake Virtanen iced the game with his first NHL goal.
Notable goals
Giroux’s tying goal in the second period was even sweeter. Taking an outlet pass from Jakub Voracek, he undressed Ryan Miller with a forehand-backhand move.
Goalie report
Steve Mason faced the tougher shots, once again. Miller went through stretches where he didn’t see rubber, let alone touch it. Mason never saw Bo Horvat's blind turnaround shot from the high slot, as Nick Schultz crossed in front of him on the release.
Power play
As weak as green tea, again. Michael Raffl, one of the few Flyers who showed any offensive umph in this game, had the lone shot on their first-period power play that carried into the second. They had just two shots on their second power play.
Penalty kill
The Flyers came into the game having yielded at least one power-play goal in their previous five games. They were 1 for 1 on the kill.
Bad pair
Coach Dave Hakstol’s choice of Schultz with Luke Schenn was unusual. Two slow players on the back end was a terrible decision. That's why they got smoked for a goal just 1:08 into the game with Jannick Hansen’s open-in-the-slot backhander for a 1-0 Canucks lead.
Stickhandling
No Flyer has had more pucks go awry off his stick on breakaways than Sam Gagner this season. He botched another two-on-one late in the first period. Need a calculator at this point.
Scratches
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (IR, right knee/ankle); Sean Couturier (concussion). Evgeny Medvedev (healthy) and Chris Conner (healthy).
Up next
The Flyers' four-game Western Canada road swing lands in Edmonton on Tuesday where they play yet another back-to-back against Connor McDavid and the Oilers.