Recap: Flyers 8, Canucks 2
Lost and found. That is how I would describe last night’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks. Actually, it really wasn’t much of a game rather than a poor excuse for one. Lost was the team that Canucks’ fans had grown accustumed to seeing over the past season, and if it wasn’t for the ‘Vancouver’ across their chests, you would not have been able to find them. While found was a new Flyers team.
The Flyers came out with something to prove and a record to uphold. Throughout Canucks’ history, Vancouver has never defeated the Flyers in Vancouver. Judging by their performance last night, who knows if they ever will? For the first few minutes of the game both teams were going end to end trading scoring chances. That’s something that the fans love, but Vigneault and the Canucks try to avoid. However they couldn’t avoid the high flying Flyers for very long as the quickly went down 2-0 and 4-1 by the end of the first.
Lost was the defensive prowess that the exhibited through the second two-thirds of last season as the Canucks team as a whole was confused when it came to coverage in their own zone. Many of the Flyers’ goals were direct results of blown coverage in the Vancouver zone. Aaron Miller through a puck straight up the middle in his own zone and found that puck sitting in his own net seconds later. And Kevin Bieksa and Willie Mitchell both went to block a Daniel Briere pass to Simon Gagne on a Philly powerplay, which left the Flyers’ sniper wide open for an empty-net tap in.
Found was the calling and new philosophy of the Philadelphia Flyers. Philly played a high-powered offensive game with a dangerous powerplay and stable defense in their first game of the season versus Calgary. Yesterday with their slaughtering of Vancouver they proved that they can dismantle teams - with their high octane offense - which are regarded to have the best defenses in the league. The Flyers looked dangerous of the rush 5-on-5, they looked extremely dangerous on the powerplay and they even looked dangerous on a 3-on-5 on which Mike Richards scored shorthanded on a breakaway.
Philly, only three games in, may have kickstarted their year in a perfect way to bounce back from a dismal previous season. Vancouver on the other hand seems to have taken steps backwards from where they were last season. Coach Alain Vigneault at the beginning of the previous year said that no team of his will get outworked. I guess there is a first for everything as most comments coming from the Canucks’ dressing room last night were airing on the side of a lack of effort. This morning on the Team 1040 radio, Canucks’ GM Dave Nonis iterated the same sentiments when he said that the Canucks’ effort last night was ‘lazy and stupid’ and that if the players ‘don’t want to work, we’ll find others that will’. Luckily for the Canucks, to give them time to bounce back, and for the Flyers, to keep them grounded, it’s only the third game of the season.
Thumbs Up: The Canucks powerplay looked dangerous yet again scoring two goals. The Sedins set up both goals on set plays to Ryan Shannon and Lukas Krajicek.
Thumbs Down: Jesse Boulerice showed why he’s on the fourth line and is fighting for a spot in the Flyers lineup (also why he was banned from the OHL) when he cross-checked Ryan Kesler in the head late in the third period. Boulerice was given a match penalty and is suspended indefinitely by the NHL.
