PHILADELPHIA — Andrej Meszaros scored the winning goal 4:40 into the third period (and 1:01 after the Canucks tied it) to help the Flyers to a 5-4 victory in Wednesday's home opener.
Philadelphia is 3-0 for only the 11th time in its history, which dates to 1967-68. That is a bright spot in a city suffering through the Phillies' elimination in the National League Division Series and the Eagles' 1-4 start.
One Flyers fan bellowed, "Come on, Flyers, you're our only hope!" as he tailgated with friends outside the arena.
"It kind of disappoints me to see the Eagles getting written off. There's still a lot of season left to play," said wing James van Riemsdyk, who scored his first goal of the season in the first. "But it's nice to have a full building and have the passion of the fans come out even more. But at the same time, those teams still mean a lot to the city."
Game highlights: Rookie Gabriel Landeskog's first goal tied it with 41 seconds left and Matt Duchene's shootout goal won it for Colorado 3-2 over Columbus. The crowd of 8,986 was the smallest ever for Columbus, which is in its 11th season in the league. … Anthony Stewart and Jiri Tlusty scored in the third as host Carolina beat Boston 3-2. The Bruins are 1-of-18 on the power play this season.
Around the league: Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro left practice after taking a puck off his mask. His status hasn't been determined. … The Wild traded Eric Nystrom to the Stars for future considerations. The wing was demoted to the minors despite playing all 82 games last season (four goals and eight assists) and making $1.4 million.
| at Flyers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Canucks | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
First Period—1, Philadelphia, Giroux 3 (Pronger, Read), 7:14 (pp). 2, Philadelphia, Pronger 1 (Giroux, Jagr), 12:12 (pp). 3, Vancouver, Samuelsson 1 (H.Sedin, D.Sedin), 16:35 (pp). 4, Philadelphia, van Riemsdyk 1 (Giroux), 17:48. Penalties—Salo, Van (hooking), 2:39; Samuelsson, Van (holding), 5:50; H.Sedin, Van (high-sticking), 7:57; Burrows, Van (cross-checking), 10:53; Hartnell, Phi (high-sticking), 15:33; Hartnell, Phi (roughing), 20:00.
Second Period—5, Vancouver, H.Sedin 1 (Burrows, Edler), 6:41. 6, Philadelphia, Voracek 2 (Couturier, Timonen), 8:32. 7, Vancouver, Higgins 2 (Burrows, Bieksa), 15:31. Penalties—Volpatti, Van (holding), 11:21.
Third Period—8, Vancouver, D.Sedin 2 (Edler, Samuelsson), 3:39 (pp). 9, Philadelphia, Meszaros 1 (Briere), 4:40. Penalties—van Riemsdyk, Phi (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:25; Rinaldo, Phi (roughing), 5:10; Jagr, Phi (hooking), 10:17; Voracek, Phi (boarding), 14:26; Pronger, Phi (interference), 16:30. Shots on Goal—Vancouver 9-14-17—40. Philadelphia 14-6-7—27. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 2 of 7; Philadelphia 2 of 5. Goalies—Vancouver, Luongo 0-1-1 (27 shots-22 saves). Philadelphia, Bryzgalov 3-0-0 (40-36). A—19,632 (19,537).
| Avalanche | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| at Blue Jackets | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Avalanche wins shootout 2-1 |
First Period—1, Colorado, Galiardi 1 (O'Byrne, Wilson), 13:06. Penalties—McLeod, Col, major (fighting), 2:33; Dorsett, Clm, major (fighting), 2:33; Quincey, Col (boarding), 4:53; Wilson, Col (boarding), 8:50; Kobasew, Col (holding), 16:34; Dorsett, Clm (interference), 19:11.
Second Period—2, Columbus, Nash 2, 2:30. Penalties—Colorado bench, served by Mueller (too many men), 17:09; Prospal, Clm (high-sticking), 17:49.
Third Period—3, Columbus, Martinek 1 (Prospal, Nash), 1:16. 4, Colorado, Hejda 1 (O'Reilly, Duchene), 19:19. Penalties—O'Byrne, Col (interference), 1:57; Brassard, Clm (unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:57; Calvert, Clm (hooking), 2:04; Vermette, Clm (interference), 14:19.
Overtime—None. Penalties—None.
Shootout—Colorado 2 (Hejduk G, Duchene G), Columbus 1 (Nash G, Prospal NG, Carter NG). Shots on Goal—Colorado 7-7-16-2—32. Columbus 11-19-1-2—33. Power-play opportunities—Colorado 0 of 4; Columbus 0 of 4. Goalies—Colorado, Varlamov 2-1-0 (33 shots-31 saves). Columbus, Mason 0-3-1 (32-30). A—8,986 (18,144).
| at Hurricanes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bruins | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
First Period—None. Penalties—Carolina bench, served by Stewart (too many men), 4:23; Skinner, Car (slashing), 6:54; Kelly, Bos (hooking), 18:48.
Second Period—1, Carolina, Pitkanen 1 (Kaberle, Jokinen), :42 (pp). Penalties—Tlusty, Car (high-sticking), 3:18; Carolina bench, served by Stewart (too many men), 8:23; LaRose, Car (hooking), 11:05; J.Boychuk, Bos (goaltender interference), 12:58.
Third Period—2, Carolina, Stewart 1 (Brent, Gleason), 3:42. 3, Boston, Seguin 1 (Horton, McQuaid), 4:07. 4, Carolina, Tlusty 1 (Bra.Sutter, Dwyer), 13:32. 5, Boston, Marchand 2 (Bergeron, Corvo), 16:35. Penalties—Peverley, Bos (tripping), 6:08; Bergeron, Bos (tripping), 19:57. Shots on Goal—Boston 9-8-11—28. Carolina 13-7-14—34. Power-play opportunities—Boston 0 of 5; Carolina 1 of 4. Goalies—Boston, Thomas 1-2-0 (34 shots-31 saves). Carolina, Ward 1-2-0 (28-26). A—16,483 (18,680).
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