VANCOUVER – Jake Virtanen scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Miller made 27 saves as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Monday.
Bo Horvat, with a goal and an assist, and Jannik Hansen also scored for Vancouver (6-2-4). Matt Bartkowski added another into an empty net with under a minute to go.
Claude Giroux replied for Philadelphia (4-5-2), while Steve Mason stopped 30 shots as the Flyers dropped their fourth in a row.
The Canucks announced Sunday that Virtanen and fellow 19-year-old rookie forward Jared McCann would be sticking with the club beyond the nine-game mark rather than being returned to junior, triggering the first year of their entry-level contracts.
With his team already leading 2-1 in the third period, Virtanen took the puck hard to the net on a 2-on-1 and beat Mason on a backhand at 8:28 before Bartkowski added his second late as Vancouver won its second straight game on home ice after dropping its first five of the season.
Horvat gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 10:10 of the second period with the teams playing 4-on-4, wheeling out from behind the Philadelphia net before firing a low shot past Mason for his second goal of the season.
