Sean Couturier scored his first goal in nearly two years and Egor Zamula also tallied to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers past the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 on Tuesday.
Flyers goaltender Carter Hart stopped all 25 shots he faced en route to his sixth career shutout, while the Philadelphia offense put 42 shots on goal.
After winning a home-and-home matchup with the Edmonton Oilers to open the season, the Canucks failed to score in the second game of a five-game road trip.
Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko made 40 saves.
The Flyers, up 2-0, received an power play at 1:07 of the third period when Owen Tippett was tripped by Tyler Myers. While Philadelphia had a few good chances, highlighted by Tyson Foerster’s slap shot, it was unable to score.
The Canucks soon responded and appeared to slice the deficit in half at 3:26 as Conor Garland was credited with the goal. The puck looked as if it ricocheted off Philadelphia defenseman Marc Staal. The Flyers used their coach’s challenge, and the goal was overturned for goaltender interference.
Flyers center Scott Laughton skated in for a backhand shot at 15:40, but Demko dove on the ice and was able to make a smothering glove save.
Demko was pulled for an extra skater twice in the final three minutes. Despite a late power play, the Canucks couldn’t capitalize.
The Flyers went ahead 1-0 at 1:45 of the first when Zamula fired a shot through traffic for his first career goal.
Garland had a terrific scoring chance at 16:59 but was stopped by Hart.
Couturier drew a penalty shot at 17:23 of the first and capitalized with a goal off the inside of the post for a 2-0 advantage. Noah Juulsen was whistled for slashing to set up the rare penalty shot.
The goal was the first for Couturier since Dec. 10, 2021, as he missed 1 1/2 seasons due to two back surgeries before returning at the start of this campaign.
Demko made a sprawling save at 5:20 of the second to deny a point-blank shot by Bobby Brink.
Zamula nearly scored again at 13:20 as his strong wrist shot was deflected by Demko’s pad.
The Flyers dominated on offense through the first two periods with a 32-14 edge in shots. Demko stopped all 22 shots he faced in the second.
–Field Level Media
