Philadelphia Flyers' Sean Couturier, left, makes a penalty shot against Vancouver Canucks' Thatcher Demko, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Sean Couturier scored on a penalty shot for his first goal in nearly two years, Carter Hart made 25 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 in their home opener Tuesday night.
After being taken down by Elias Pettersson, Couturier beat Thatcher Demko on the penalty shot to make it 2-0 with 2:37 remaining in the first period. Couturier approached the goal from the right with his back to Demko, then spun to his forehand for a snapper that went in off the far post.
Couturier scored for the first time since Dec. 10, 2021. He was sidelined for the second half of the 2021-22 season and all of last season because of a back injury.
Rookie defenceman Egor Zamula opened the scoring with his first NHL goal, beating Demko to the glove side 1:45 into the game.
The Canucks lost for the first time after sweeping an opening home-and-home set with the Edmonton Oilers.
Hart had his first shutout of the season and sixth in the NHL.
Elsewhere in the NHL Tuesday:
OILERS 6 PREDATORS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Leon Draisaitl had two power-play goals and two assists, and Edmonton beat Nashville for its first victory of the season.
Zach Hyman had a goal and three assists for Edmonton, which opened with two losses to Vancouver by a combined 12-4 score. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid and Warren Foegele also scored, and Jack Campbell made 41 saves.
The Oilers improved to 9-0-2 in their last 11 games against the Predators.
Tommy Novak scored a power-play goal in the second period for Nashville. The Predators dropped to 1-3 on the season.
WILD 5 CANADIENS 2
MONTREAL (AP) – Joel Eriksson Ek had two power-play goals and added an assist to help Minnesota beat Montreal.
Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and assisted on both of Eriksson Ek’s goals, while Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar staked the Wild to a 2-0 lead with short-handed goals 25 seconds apart in the first period.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the victory in his hometown in his first start of the season. Mats Zuccarello had three assists.
Tanner Pearson and Alex Newhook scored for Montreal.
KINGS 5 JETS 1
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Cam Talbot made 26 saves and Los Angeles beat Winnipeg for its first victory of the season.
Trevor Moore had two goals and an assist, Phillip Danault had a goal and two assists and Arthur Kaliyev had a goal and an assist.
Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored in his return to Winnipeg. Dubois was traded to Los Angeles in June for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari.
The Kings opened with a two-game homestand, falling 5-2 to Colorado and 6-5 to Carolina in a shootout.
Mark Scheifele ended Talbot’s shutout bid with 1:16 left.
ISLANDERS 1 COYOTES 0
NEW YORK (AP) – Mathew Barzal on a second-period power play, Ilya Sorokin made 14 saves in his first shutout of the season and New York beat Arizona.
Noah Dobson and Kyle Palmieri each picked up an assist.
Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves for Arizona in its second straight loss.
SABRES 3 LIGHTNING 2 (OT)
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Dylan Cozens scored 1:46 into overtime and Buffalo beat Tampa Bay for its first victory of the season.
Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored for Buffalo, and rookie Devon Levi stopped 21 shots after opening the season with two losses.
Brandon Hagel scored twice for the Lightning, including the overtime-forcing goal with seven seconds left. Jonas Johansson made 28 saves.
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