Sluggish Flyers shut out, 3-0, by Canucks in disappointing home opener

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers took the long way home, starting the season with a four-game, Western road trip.

When they arrived at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday the crowd was buzzing in anticipation of the home opener.

The fans went bonkers when Gritty skated out and then won a boxing match against a skater in a Vancouver Canucks jersey. They roared loudly for guys like Matvei Michkov, Jett Luchanko and Travis Konency as each player and staff member was introduced. And they cheered for the first power play.

Until they didn’t.

A house is not a home if it’s not warm and friendly — and this crowd quickly went ice cold as the boobirds came out. And they stayed throughout the Flyers’ 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead thanks to a wide-open Nils Höglander at the right post. It was one of 15 shots they poured on Sam Ersson in the opening frame. This one was a no-doubter as the Swedish winger was left alone thanks to a blown coverage, and slammed an Elias Pettersson pass home.

Consistency was the focus at the start of training camp and patience took over at the start of the season. Now the word is disjointed as the Flyers struggled to connect on passes and hit the net with their shot opportunities.

It gave the Canucks the chance to open things up and add to their goal total.

Brock Boeser made it 2-0 by cleaning up a rebound on a Tyler Myers shot atop the crease. Boeser, who hails from Minnesota, took a breath before scoring around Ersson’s pad on the backhand.

Less than a minute later, Kiefer Sherwood added another tally with a one-timer from the right circle which came directly off a face-off win by Teddy Blueger.

The booing continued through the game as the Flyers struggled to find offense — and the net. The guys in orange and black put 26 shots on goal, had 10 others blocked, and missed the net a whopping 23 times.

Breakaways

Sean Couturier skated in his 800th NHL game, all with the Flyers. He started the game on the left wing alongside Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway. ... The Flyers' first home opener was 57 years ago, on Oct. 19, 1967. They had earned a point in the five previous home openers (4-0-1) and had never lost to the Canucks in six previous lid lifters at home (4-0-1).

Up next

The Flyers welcome Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday(6 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+).