Four goals in four games from a fourth liner?
The Flyers have to be rubbing their eyes and blinking in disbelief the way Carl Grundstrom is playing these days.
Grundstrom provided a go-ahead goal on Tuesday night as the Flyers skated into Vancouver and came away with a 6-3 win at Rogers Arena.
The Grundstrom goal at 3:40 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie.
He raced to the lower edge of the right circle and sent a rising shot into the net, setting a career-high for goals in consecutive games. He recently had just tied his career-best previous high streak of three, which came back on March 16-20, 2023 as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.
“The shots seem to be going in right now,” a smiling Grundstrom said during a second intermission televised interview. “Just enjoying it.”
Grundstrom sounded equally upbeat in post-game comments. He complimented linemate Nikita Grebenkin for assisting on his goal.
“I think we want to play pretty direct when we can,” Grundstrom said. “I think our whole line (including Rodrigo Abols) has good chemistry. It’s been really good.”
Coach Rick Tocchet liked the way his team came back after a slow start.
“Yeah, the first 10 (minutes) they came out flying,” Tocchet said. “We were on our heels. The players knew it, we weren’t skating. Then we started getting our legs and playing the game the right way.”
Grundstrom once again caught Tocchet’s eye with his strong two-way play.
“He and Grebenkin, I thought, a couple shifts were really hard on the forecheck,” the coach said. “That really kind of put some pressure on them. When a team puts pressure on, you need a line to kind of change the momentum.”
Meanwhile, Dan Vladar turned in another stellar goaltending effort.
Vladar, who many thought would start against his old team, the Calgary Flames, on Wednesday night wound up getting the nod in this game.
After Grundstrom scored, Travis Konecny added a third goal at 16:20. He took a point pass from Jamie Drysdale, saw his first shot blocked but followed up on the rebound.
In the third period, the Canucks pulled within a goal at 1:08 when Drew O’Connor connected. But just 26 seconds later, Bobby Brink restored the two-goal margin off a Matvei Michkov assist.
The Flyers are now 13-0-1 when leading after two periods.
They have five players – Trevor Zegras, Konecny, Brink, Owen Tippett and Cates – with double-figure goals.
It was all Vancouver in the first half of the first period and all Flyers in the second half.
The Canucks scored with a David Kampf goal at 3:45. Vancouver ran up a 10-0 edge in shots by the middle of the period.
Then, during an ice resurfacing, the Flyers caught their breath. They finally got a shot, then Cates scored with a shot which appeared to deflect off a Vancouver defender past goalie Thatcher Demko at 12:02. Michkov set up the play with a nice pass off the boards. Konecny’s big check at the Philadelphia blue line started the rush.
Philadelphia finished the second half of the period with a 5-0 edge in shots.
What was the message in the first intermission locker room?
“We didn’t skate enough in the first period,” Grundstrom said in the second intermission break. “I think we did a better job in the second. We held onto pucks a little bit more. And we played a heavier style. A better period for sure.”
Cates indicated the Flyers needed that little break.
“That wake-up call, they were all over us,” Cates said during a first-intermission televised interview. “We just wanted to get pucks behind them, got on the forecheck and play the way we can play.”
There were a total of 22 hits between the two teams in the first 20 minutes. That didn’t include a fight between Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler and Vancouver’s Evander Kane, with Seeler the clear winner.
With 2:41 to play, Tippett scored into an empty net to reduce any drama, although Vancouver scored with 1:44 left on the clock. Then Christian Dvorak connected on another empty-net goal for the final margin.
Brink said the Flyers just stuck to their game plan and were confident things would work out.
“We got a couple pucks behind them,” Brink said. “Started getting five guys skating. . .I think it led to some turnovers and some chances.”
>Tocchet back in familiar spot
Tocchet knew he would be facing his old team, Vancouver, twice in a short time span in December.
The first meeting was going to be emotional because it was the initial time he had coached against his former club.
Tuesday night’s game was a little different because he was headed back to Rogers Arena where he had been coaching the Canucks the past few years.
“You fly in last night, you take the bus and you see how beautiful the city is,” Tocchet remarked. “The city is incredible and then the memories come back. I was only here two and a half years but it was a lot of fun. It’s a great place to live and coach.”
>Short shots
The Flyers move on to Calgary on Wednesday for a New Year’s Eve test against the Flames. . .Porter Martone, the Flyers’ top pick in this year’s draft, scored in Canada’s 9-1 rout of Denmark in Monday night action at the World Junior Championships in Minnesota. . .Vladar took to the ice with a save percentage of .909 this season, 11th-best in the NHL. . .Sean Couturier’s goal drought hit 11 games. . .Michkov’s multi-point game was his first since Dec. 3 vs. Buffalo. . .The Flyers avoided what would have been just their second two-game (regulation time) losing streak (12-1-5).
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