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 on Tuesday:
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.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the victory in his hometown. Mats Zuccarello had three assists.
Tanner Pearson and Alex Newhook scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault made 30 saves.
—
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
