An early goal in the third period by defenseman Cam York went unnoticed for more than 10 seconds before the officials blew the goal horn and allowed the Philadelphia Flyers to celebrate in a game against the Vancouver Canucks. open the regular season Friday evening.
York’s goal tied the game at 2–2 before Morgan Frost scored the decisive goal in a shootout, and the Flyers started their season 1–0 with a win in British Columbia.
According to CBS Sports, the Flyers are now 8-0-2 in their last ten season openers.
Tyson Foerster also scored in regulation for the Flyers, and Samuel Ersson finished with 24 saves.
York’s odd goal came around the 2:48 mark of the third period. He fired a shot past Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen that pinged under the crossbar of the net but rebounded quickly. The officials allowed the game to continue for a few moments before the horn sounded and the Flyers could celebrate the tie.
Teddy Blueger and Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks, and Lankinen made 30 saves in his Vancouver debut.
It was the second straight game in which the Canucks lost in overtime after maintaining a lead heading into the third period.
Travis Konecny also scored in the shootout for Philadelphia, and Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver.
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Highly touted prospect Matvei Michkov made some big moves in his NHL regular season debut. The 19-year-old Russian right winger tried to beat Lankinen with a back-footed shot between the legs in front of the net during a power play in the third period. The Flyers selected Michkov seventh overall in the 2023 draft.
Jett Luchanko, an 18-year-old prospectalso made his regular season debut.
Philadelphia kept Vancouver’s star-studded power play in check, killing all five penalties they faced and not allowing a single shot on the final three.
Foerster’s first-period goal, meanwhile, came on the power play. The Flyers went one-for-four with the man advantage after finishing with the least powerful power play in the league last season.
Vancouver lost a big player less than two minutes into the game when defenseman Tyler Myers went down after hitting Joel Farabee along the boards. Myers spent several minutes on the ice being looked at by trainers before being helped and heading straight to the locker room, with his right leg favored. He did not return.
The Flyers visit Calgary, Alberta, on Saturday, while the Canucks open their first road trip of the season at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
