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 Rookie right winger Jake Virtanen scored his first NHL goal Monday
night, and second-year center Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist as
the Canucks defeated the fading Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.
"That one's pretty special," Virtanen said about his third-period
goal that made the score 3-1.
The 19-year-old, playing in his ninth game, was set up when
defenseman Ben Hutton fed him a cross-ice pass. Virtanen used his
speed to break into the Flyers' zone. He cut in front of the net and
beat goaltender Steve Mason with a shot under the blocker.
"It was really exciting," said Virtanen, picked sixth overall in the
2014 draft. "To get that one off my shoulders is good."
Besides the goal, Virtanen had three shots, three hits and a
takeaway.
"Each game gives you confidence," he said. "Tonight, that went up,
especially after the goal. You get that one and then you've just got
to keep on rolling."
Virtanen and fellow 19-year-old center Jared McCann were told on the
weekend they would remain with the Canucks. Both have contributed on
and off the ice for Vancouver.
McCann has five goals in 10 games and just missed scoring into an
empty net.
"Jake had a great game tonight," Horvat said. "You knew something
was going to turn around for him.
"He's getting tons of chances and creating lot of offense. He's
using his frame. To score that one is going to drive his game even
more."
Veteran Alex Burrows said the addition of Virtanen and McCann, along
with other young players such as left winger Sven Baertschi and
Hutton, is injecting some new life into the Canucks' dressing room.
"It's contagious," Burrows said. "Everything is new for them. They
are so happy every day. Everything is so much fun.
"They just want to get better. They have earned it. They deserve to
be here. Jared with his offensive skills and Jake with his speed and
size, his physical play."
Defenseman Matt Bartkowski scored into an empty net with 53 seconds
left for the Canucks (6-2-4).
Center Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers (4-5-2), who lost their
fourth consecutive game (0-3-1). The defeat also was Philadelphia's
fourth on the road (1-3-1).
"I think it was a lot of improvement from the last three games,"
Giroux said. "We generated a lot of offense, and we played the way
wanted to play.
"We have a lot of things we want to work on, but the score doesn't
show how much better we played tonight."
Hansen gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead with the game just 68 seconds old.
After that, the Flyers found their legs and took the game to the
Canucks for a stretch.
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"We didn't have a real sharp start to the game," said Mason, who
stopped 30 shots. "We've got to be ready, and we haven't done that
the last little while. It sets us back right off the bat."
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said his team didn't quit, forcing Canucks
goaltender Ryan Miller to make some good saves.
Miller finished the night stopping 27 shots.
"We had a lot of opportunities," Hakstol said. "I thought we had a
more concentrated effort to get some bodies to the blue paint.
"There was a couple of pucks that squeaked wide, a couple pucks that
I don't think he saw that hit him, but that's good goaltending on
his part. We just have to stay with it."
Hansen, who scored his second goal of the season, said the Canucks
had control of the game early, then let it slip away.
"We started good for the first 10 minutes, but the second half (of
the first period) we felt like they took over," he said. "We were
back on our heels. ... That created a lot of turnovers in our end.
"Miller came up with a lot of big saves early in the game. That was
the reason we were tied and had a chance to win this game."
NOTES: The Canucks won't send rookie C Jared McCann and RW Jake
Virtanen back to their junior teams. ... Vancouver RW Alex Burrows
played in his 700th NHL game. ... Canucks D Dan Hamhuis returned
after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Canucks D
Luca Sbisa was out with a lower-body injury. ... Vancouver LW Sven
Baertschi returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for
one game. ... Canucks C Brendan Gaunce was a healthy scratch.... The
Flyers recalled RW Chris Conner from AHL Lehigh Valley, but he
didn't dress against Vancouver. ... Philadelphia D Evgeny Medvedev
was a healthy scratch. ... The top line of C Claude Giroux, RW Jakub
Voracek and LW Michael Raffl were reunited. ... Flyers C Vincent
Lecavalier was dropped to the third line. ... Philadelphia C Sean
Couturier (concussion) and LW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (lower body)
didn't dress. ... The Flyers play in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Vancouver's next game is Wednesday against Pittsburgh.
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