Couturier stars as Flyers roll in opener
LOS ANGELES - Center Sean Couturier didn't score his second goal until Nov. 28 last season. Then again, he didn't have playmaking left winger Travis Konecny on his line a year ago.
LOS ANGELES - Center Sean Couturier didn't score his second goal until Nov. 28 last season. Then again, he didn't have playmaking left winger Travis Konecny on his line a year ago.
Couturier scored twice in the second period - both goals were set up Konecny, who made a flashy NHL debut - as the Flyers opened their 50th anniversary season Friday with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.
It was their first opening-game win in five seasons.
Michal Neuvirth also played a major role, stopping 23 of 25 shots. He kept the Flyers in the game before they got into sync in the second period, erupting for four goals and outshooting the Kings, 21-9.
Boyd Gordon and Couturier scored 48 seconds apart early in the second period, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Couturier, after taking a gorgeous blind pass from Konecny (two assists), made it 3-0 later in the second, silencing the crowd.
Mark Streit, gambling because he had Ivan Provorov back on defense, fired a bad-angle, point-blank shot off the back of goalie Jeff Zatkoff to give the Flyers a 4-0 lead with 1 minute, 57 seconds left in the second.
Provorov, who played well in his NHL debut, registered his first point on the goal.
But the Kings wouldn't quit.
Drew Doughty got L.A. within 4-1 by scoring on a point drive with 1:08 to go in the second. Brayden McNabb cut it to 4-2 when his shot deflected off Streit and past Neuvirth with 16:59 remaining in the third.
Earlier, Boyd, who scored just two goals with Arizona last season, beat Zatkoff with a wrist shot from the high slot with 16:05 left in the second period to put the Flyers ahead, 1-0.
Boyd signed as a free agent in July, primarily because of his penalty-killing work.
Couturier, who didn't score his second goal until the 18th game last season, gobbled up a rebound and made a pretty move to make it 2-0 just 48 seconds after Gordon's goal. Konecny notched his first point, and Shayne Gostisbehere also was credited with an assist.
"I went to the net hard and got rewarded," Couturier said.
Gostisbehere, who finished second in the rookie-of-the-year voting last season, survived a scary play in a scoreless opening period, when the Flyers nearly lost the services of one of their most important players.
Early in the period, Gostisbehere's face was accidentally sliced when Kyle Clifford's skate caught him on the right cheek and nose.
The second-year defenseman suffered a nasty gash, got treatment from trainer Jim McCrossin on the bench, and returned to action later in the period.
Los Angeles, which opened its season with a 2-1 loss in San Jose on Wednesday, had a game under its belt and was much sharper than the Flyers in the opening period. The Kings outshot the Flyers, 10-4, but Neuvirth stood tall.
The Kings had the game's first eight shots before Streit finally put one on net for the Flyers, a point drive with 6:52 left in the first. Zatkoff, starting because of a injury to Jonathan Quick, made the easy save. Zatkoff, 29, was playing in just his 37th NHL game.
With Zatkoff out of position, Gostisbehere fired wide from the high slot with 6:09 remaining in the first.
The Flyers got a power play late in the first when Andy Andreoff boarded Konecny. With 2:48 left in the first and the Flyers still on the power play, Konecny threaded a perfect pass to Streit in front, but Zatkoff denied him from the doorstep to keep the game scoreless.
In addition to Couturier and Konecny, Nick Cousins (two assists) had two points for the Flyers, who play in Arizona on Saturday night.
The Kings and Flyers are celebrating their 50th anniversary season, and before the game several members of Los Angeles' first team (1967-68) were introduced, including former Flyers defenseman Brent Hughes.
It marked the first time the Flyers had opened their season in California since their inaugural year, which they began with a 5-1 loss to the California Seals in Oakland on Oct. 11, 1967.
The Flyers won the title that season in the Western Division, which was composed of the league's six expansion teams: the Flyers, Seals, Kings, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and St. Louis.
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