Wayne Simmonds netted two goals to help the Philadelphia Flyers secure a 5-2 season-opening victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
This marked Philadelphia’s third consecutive season opener with a win in a Pacific Division city. The Flyers have now earned points in their last four season openers (3-0-1).
In addition to Simmonds’ two goals, Oskar Lindblom, Robert Hagg, and Scott Laughton found the back of the net for Philadelphia. The Flyers were among seven NHL teams to win on the road in Thursday’s 10-game schedule.
“It’s sometimes tough to open at home with all the distractions,” said Flyers goalie Brian Elliott, who made 23 saves on 25 shots. “The road team just comes in focused and plays their game.”
While Vegas had more scoring chances, outshooting the Flyers 24-14 in high-danger chances, Elliott’s solid performance was key to Philadelphia’s win. In contrast, Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury struggled, allowing five goals on 16 shots before being replaced by Malcolm Subban, who stopped all nine shots he faced.
Despite the festivities that included raising banners for winning the Pacific Division and Western Conference, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant didn’t believe his team was distracted. “I thought we had a good start, but after we hit the crossbar at 1-0, the Flyers took over,” Gallant said.
Jonathan Marchessault and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare were the goal scorers for Vegas, but the Flyers controlled the neutral zone and disrupted Vegas’ offensive rhythm.
“We wanted to counter their speed,” said Simmonds, who led the Flyers with four shots and seven hits. “They like to push with their defense, so we kept the pressure on them and made it work in our favor.”
Marchessault gave the Golden Knights an early 1-0 lead, but Lindblom responded by slipping the puck around Fleury to tie the game. Simmonds then scored twice—once by poking in a loose puck near the goal line and again by slipping a shot past Fleury in the second period, making it 3-1.
Simmonds now has five goals over his last two season-openers.
The Flyers extended their lead when Mikhail Vorobyev, making his NHL debut, set up Hagg’s wrist shot, and just over a minute later, Laughton tipped in Radko Gudas’ shot to make it 5-1.
Bellemare scored a short-handed goal in the third period, but the Golden Knights couldn’t muster a comeback.
The two teams will meet again on October 13, with Vegas visiting Philadelphia to wrap up their five-game road trip.
Game Notes:
- Wayne Newton and rapper Lil Jon took center stage together to drop the ceremonial first puck.
- Jakub Voracek reached 400 career points with two assists.
- Claude Giroux passed Bill Barber for third place on the Flyers’ all-time assists list, with 464.
Up Next:
- Philadelphia: Faces Colorado on Saturday.
- Vegas: Travels to Minnesota on Saturday.
