Flyers end Canucks' winning streak in Tocchet's 1st game against former team

PHILADELPHIA -- Nikita Grebenkin had a goal and an assist for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.

It was the first game for Flyers coach Rick Tocchet against the Canucks, who he coached the previous three seasons before stepping down April 29. He was hired by the Flyers on May 14.

Carl Grundstrom, Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett scored for Philadelphia (18-10-7), which has points in six of its past seven games (2-1-4). Dan Vladar made 23 saves.

It was Philadelphia's first home game after a four-game road trip that saw them go 1-1-2, including surrendering third-period leads in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and in a 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

"Just happy to be home," Tippett said. "Obviously a long road trip. You want to kind of have a bounce back and use your fans as much as you can. They were great tonight. Obviously in warmup, you can tell there was a lot of people here. We were ready to go in the room."

Max Sasson and Drew O'Connor scored for Vancouver (15-18-3), which had its four-game winning streak end in the final game of a five-game road trip. Thatcher Demko made 34 saves.

"They had more juice than us, their legs were going," Canucks coach Adam Foote said. "They got inside ice on us. They got to the net and that was the difference."

Grebenkin put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 13:13 of the second period when he redirected Emil Andrae's one-timer from the left point past Demko.

Grundstrom made it 2-0 at 5:58 of the third period. Grebenkin skated around Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek and drove to the net. He passed in front to Grundstrom, who scored on his rebound.

It was Grebenkin's first multipoint NHL game in his two seasons.

"The goal, that's what I saw in training camp," Tocchet said. "Get to the net. He was around the net, and then he made a [heck] of a play to hold it (on the Grundstrom goal). ... I think getting that goal really helps him. That's the places where he's got to go. He's going to look at players around the League that score around those areas and are dirty, and they're inside and he's a pest out there. That's when he's at his best."

Getting that kind of production from the fourth line of Grebenkin, Grundstrom and Rodrigo Abols (two assists) allowed the Flyers to have a more balanced attack from their forward lines.

"They've been great," Tippett said. "Obviously, 'Greby' has got a lot of skill, and we see that every day. It's only a matter of time before that's consistent in his game. And once he gets a little bit of confidence, it's going to be fun to watch. They've all played great. Obviously 'Grundy' ever since he came up, he's made an impact right away. They were great, fun to watch tonight."

Philadelphia made it 3-0 when Dvorak scored at 7:49, batting in rebound of Trevor Zegras' shot from the slot that bounced off the glass behind the net and in front. Officials originally said Dvorak played the puck with a high stick, but video review determined it was a good goal.

Zegras’ assist extended his point streak to eight games (10 points; five goals, five assists).

Sasson made it 3-1 at 13:05 when he got behind the Flyers defense, took a pass from Conor Garland and scored.

Tippett scored on a breakaway to make it 4-1 at 15:35. He matched his NHL career high with 10 shots on goal.

"That's a highlight-reel goal," Tocchet said. "When he gets engaged, that's when you know he's playing. He's got to get engaged right from the start, because he can do those things."

Matvei Michkov scored an empty-net goal at 18:49 to make it 5-1.

O'Connor scored from the slot at 19:42 to make it 5-2.

"We wanted to finish strong," O'Connor said. "This game was important. But looking at [the trip] as a whole I think it's about as good as you can ask for so it's a good trip for us."

NOTES: Zegras is the second Flyers player in 30 years with a point streak of at least eight games in his first season with the team, joining Kim Johnsson (eight games, 2001-02). ... Flyers forward Travis Konecny had an assist on Dvorak's goal, giving him 299 in the NHL. ... Vladar (upper body) and Dvorak (lower body) played after missing the game Saturday. ... It was the fourth time Tippett reached double figures in shots on goal, most recently Feb. 24, 2024.