Flyers 2 Canucks 0: Postgame PatDown

Canucks fall flat in Philadelphia after opening season with back to back wins

Thud. That was the sound of the Vancouver Canucks crashing back to earth after back to back wins to start the season. The Canucks started slowly on Tuesday in Philadelphia and never found their footing as they were blanked 2-0 by Carter Hart and the Flyers. The scoreboard was one thing, the shot clock was another as Philadelphia peppered Thatcher Demko with 42 shots on the night including a 22-3 edge in the second period.

Here are some thoughts and observations after the Canucks first loss of the season:

*Tuesday's result doesn't undo all of the good the Canucks had done in their season opening wins over Edmonton. But once you get past the four points in the standings, it's impossible not to look at the way the team has played the last two nights. The Canucks yielded 40 shots on Saturday night and 42 on Tuesday. This is a team that has preached structure and systems since the start of training camp and an organization that felt it had beefed up its blueline over the summer. And all of that seems to have gone out the window since the Canucks season opener not even a week ago.

*The defense by committee approach was exposed on Tuesday -- and by the Flyers, of all teams. If the Canucks insist on playing Quinn Hughes with Filip Hronek it just leaves too many areas of concern on the other pairs -- especially on the right side with Tyler Myers and Noah Juulsen. The Canucks allowed 42 shots on a night veteran Carson Soucy made his season debut. Like most of the Canucks skaters, Soucy struggled much of the night with the Canucks getting outshot 10-4 when he was on the ice at even-strength. The shots were 13-5 Flyers with Myers on patrol.

*This is two games in a row the Canucks haven't been able to get out of the first two minutes without surrendering a goal. Both times they were the visitors for the other team's home opener and didn't seem able to handle the energy or emotion in the building. But the Canucks are not a young team. They have veterans that have been through this many times before. They should know what to expect and how better to deal with it. But the first shift in Edmonton on Saturday was a disaster and the first 105 seconds on Tuesday were just about as bad. Even before Egor Zamula scored, the Flyers were buzzing around the Canucks zone. Owen Tippett walked out of the corner unimpeded for a glorious scoring opportunity and moments later Zamula scored his first NHL goal to give Philadelphia an early lead. The Canucks simply need to play with more poise than they havae in the early going the last two nights.

*The Canucks appeared to get a raw deal on the Flyers coach's challenge of Conor Garland's goal at 3:26 of the third period. Sure there were bodies in and around the blue paint, but it didn't appear that Carter Hart was impeded moving from his left to his right. Still, it was a gamble for John Tortorella in that moment. A wrong challenge and not only are the Canucks on the board, but they'd also be on the power play. Tortorella made his decision and it proved to be a wise one with the War Room in Toronto finding an issue with Brock Boeser in front and Conor Garland swooping in to jam home what appeared to be a loose puck.

*Thatcher Demko was simply marvellous in this hockey game. It's a shame the Canucks wasted one the finest regular season appearances of Demko's NHL career. He stared down all 22 shots he faced in the second period to keep the Canucks close. He has now stopped 61 of the 64 shots he's faced in two outings so far this season good for an incredible .953 save percentage. What's more is that in two starts he's allowed one even-strength goal along with a power play goal and a penalty shot marker. He deserved so much more from the team in front of him on Tuesday night.

*Elias Pettersson had been outstanding in his first two games of the season, but he was not sharp in Philadelphia. He managed just one shot on goal in the hockey game and spent most of the night defending. The shots were 16-5 for the Flyers at even strength with Pettersson on the ice and the scoring chances were 14-7 in Philadelphia's favour. Pettersson will bounce back. He's too good to have many nights like this. But these are the kinds of nights when he needs to find a way to rise above and drag the team along with him. Pettersson played 10:09 of the third period in an effort to get the Canucks back in the hockey game.

*The Canucks power play managed just two shots on goal in six full minutes of time with the man-advantage. That included a 6-on-4 power play with Demko out of the net for an extra attacker. The Flyers applied all sorts of up ice pressure early in the hockey game that seemed to cause the Canucks issues. Just like every other part of the Canucks game -- aside from goaltending -- the power play had an off night, too.

*There were some interesting ice times among Canucks forwards in the third. With the team trailing, Anthony Beauvillier, who is off to a remarkably quiet start to the season, had just two shifts and played 1:47 of the final period. Phil Di Giuseppe, normally a Rick Tocchet favourite, saw the ice for 1:22 while Dakota Joshua logged just 2:11. PDG played just 28 seconds of the final 10 minutes while Joshua was out for only 22 seconds over that same span.

The Canucks will move on to Tampa Bay where they will face the Lightning on Thursday.