Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Flyers’ season-opening win over Vegas Golden Knights shows promising signs

The Flyers' opening-night 5-2 win in Vegas featured Wayne Simmonds' two goals, Brian Elliott's solid goaltending, and — surprise, surprise — flawless work on the penalty kill.

Flyers left winger Oskar Lindblom scores Thursday against Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed five goals on 16 shots and was pulled from Philadelphia's eventual 5-2 win.
Flyers left winger Oskar Lindblom scores Thursday against Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed five goals on 16 shots and was pulled from Philadelphia's eventual 5-2 win.Read moreJOHN LOCHER

DENVER – For the Flyers, whose expectations are higher than at any point in coach Dave Hakstol's tenure, their season debut — a 5-2 rout Thursday night of Vegas at the ear-splitting T-Mobile Arena — could not have gone better.

They scored goals in bunches, got very good goaltending from Brian "Moose" Elliott, and were perfect on the penalty kill.

It all produced their third straight season-opening win.

Some of the highlights:

  1. Elliott and right winger Wayne Simmonds, players who had offseason surgeries, reduced some of the health concerns with strong performances. Simmonds had two goals, and Elliott stopped 23 of 25 shots.

  2. The much-maligned penalty kill, which finished 29th in the 31-team league last season, was 3 for 3 and killed a five-on-three in the final period. Defenseman Ivan Provorov keyed the PK.

  3. Rookies Oskar Lindblom and Mihkail "Misha"  Vorobyev looked like they belonged. Lindblom had a goal, and Vorobyev collected an assist in his NHL debut and was plus-2.

  4. Defensemen Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim, second-year players whose development will  be a key part of the Flyers' season, had strong openers. Hagg had the first two-point game (goal, assist) in his career, added six hits, and was plus-2.  Sanheim had an assist and was also plus-2.

  5. The Flyers played with more physicality than in most games last season. They had 41 hits, their most since March 30, 2017.

Put it all together and you had a smooth start to a season that resumes Saturday night in Colorado.

Simmonds' performance was the highlight. The veteran was slowed by a slew of injuries last season and then underwent abdominal surgery.

"It's nice just being able to get to where I need to go on time," said Simmonds after scoring a pair of goals from the doorstep — one on the power play — and delivering seven hits. Being healthy "is going to make a big difference this year, but like I said, it was a total team effort."

Simmonds played with an edge and looked like he did two years ago.

"It's always good to see him in his element," said Hakstol, who started his fourth season with the club.

The Flyers' lead grew from 2-1 to 5-1 as Simmonds, Hagg, and Scott Laughton scored three goals in a stunning span of 4 minutes and 19 seconds in the second period against Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury was pulled midway through the game after allowing five goals on 16 shots.

Elliott, who had core-muscle surgery in February and a hip operation in the offseason, was especially effective in the first 10 minutes, when Vegas built a 1-0 lead and swarmed the net.

"Without him, we might have been down 2-0 or 3-0," Simmonds said. "… He allowed us to get our footing, and the boys put pucks in the back of the net for him."

Those goals quieted a sellout crowd that had watched a stirring pregame ceremony honoring the Knights for winning the Western Conference championship in their stunning inaugural season.

In the early stages Thursday, "the building was bumping and I thought we did a really good job controlling our emotions and focusing on our game," Simmonds said.

Breakaways

The Flyers put goalie Anthony Stolarz on waivers, hoping he clears Saturday and can be sent to the AHL's Phantoms. Calvin Pickard is expected to join the Flyers on Saturday. … Highly touted goalie Carter Hart will make his pro debut Saturday night when the Phantoms host Bridgeport. … The NHL is still investigating Jori Lehtera's involvement — if any — in a Finland drug ring. Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner said there was no specific timeline for the investigation. "We are still gathering information," he said on Friday. Lehtera centered an effective fourth line Thursday night.