Flyers Survive Another Late-Game Push, Earn Much-Needed Win Over Canucks
Nov 9, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers goalie Joseph Woll (53) watches Vancouver Canucks forward Arshdeep Bains (13) battle with defenseman Cam York (8) in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Vancouver Canucks held their offensive zone for the majority of the third period down two goals. But with the back of strong goaltending and fortunate bounces, the Flyers snapped a three-game slide.
Philadelphia still fell apart in the third period, but they bent to their limit without breaking, beating the Canucks 3-1 and taking their first win of this road trip.
Michael Bunting was added back to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last four games, and he took full advantage of the opportunity by playing hard in the opening two minutes. He rushed Canucks goalie Leevi Merilainen on a second-chance effort play, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead with his first goal as a Flyer.
In the second period, on the power play, Matvei Michkov backhanded a pass behind the net to Travis Konecny, who banged it home for his second of the season.
In the third period, Jonathan Lekkerimaki got the Canucks on the board on the power play to get them to within one. On a six-on-four power play, Travis Sanheim picked up a loose puck and shot it at the empty net, burying it to seal Monday night’s victory.
Flyers Bend to the Brink in the Third Again
The third period has been the Flyers’ kryptonite all season. They started the third with an odd-man rush in the first minute of the period Monday night; Tyson Foerster took a pass, and he snapped it past Merilainen to get the period started strong, but the play was overturned after a Vancouver replay for offsides.
The rest of the third period was more of the same for the Flyers; at one point they went over 23 minutes without a shot.
Granted, one of the few aspects that the Canucks have excelled at is goals in the third, but before the Lekkerimaki goal, Vancouver had a patent advantage. They rode that all the way until the final two minutes, making the game more interesting than it needed to be.
The fact that the Flyers took three penalties in the third didn’t help the cause. While this was a win, it was still a win where the Flyers played to not lose, instead of keeping their intensity level high for a full 60 minutes, where the only shot on goal in the final frame was the empty-netter by Sanheim to seal it.
Missed Shots Add Up
While the shot numbers tell that the ice was tilted to the Flyers’ end, they will not tell the whole story of how much pressure the Flyers put. Through the first two periods, the shots on goal count was 15-6 in favor of the Flyers, but if you look at the shot attempts in the game, the Flyers had a 42-15 advantage. Vancouver had 13 blocked shots, meaning that the Flyers had missed the net on 39 shots.
The third period turned the shot attempts on its head, but the Flyers had many chances to put distance between them and Vancouver early and were just not able to.
This has been something that has hampered the Flyers all season so far. They have missed the net more than they can handle this season, particularly in the losses. The Flyers aren’t lacking effort; they’re rushing shots, which is making scoring harder for themselves. When a young team is pressing, this is something that can amplify the issues that they are having.
One thing that they can do to mitigate these missed shots is make the extra pass to get a teammate a better shot. That requires getting better on passing tape to tape.
Woll Finally Rewarded for Solid Play
Joseph Woll has played much better than his record shows. He has made some acrobatic stops this season, and he had to stand on his head in the third to get the win.
Vancouver played the whole third period in the Flyers’ zone, leading to a lopsided 13-2 shot difference. Woll even took an odd delay-of-game penalty when the strap came off the back of his helmet, causing him to fling it off and earning a penalty.
Between Woll and the penalty kill, the Flyers survived the third period, and it took a herculean effort from the goaltender to escape Monday night with a win. Woll moved well in the third period and was anticipating all shots well. He was in front of shots that would have handcuffed him in prior games.
Part of this is the defense in front of him blocking shots and not allowing high-stress shots, but most of this win is on the shoulders of how Woll bent but didn’t break in the third.
The Flyers must learn from this, because they travel to Edmonton, and allowing the Oilers to outshoot you 13-2 in the third is flirting with disaster.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible; we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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