The first period in Philadelphia was not what Kraken coach Dave Hakstol had in mind for his return to the city of his first NHL head coaching job. The Flyers, sparked by 10-year captain Claude Giroux, who played a key role on two Hakstol playoff teams, scored the game's first goal at 9:18 on a give-and-go from Travis Konecny.
Giroux one-timed the return pass, beating Philipp Grubauer on the short side. It's his 275th goal in 945 NHL games, including a career-high 34 for Hakstol's 2017-18 playoff teams.
The Flyers followed three minutes later with Konecny taking a smart, accurate pass from veteran defenseman Keith Yandle. Konecny sped deeper into the Kraken zone, firing off a hard shot on Grubauer, who made the initial save but offered up a rebound that Konecny snatched up and shot past Grubauer.
Two minutes after Konecny connected - and looked like his 2019-20 self doing it - new Flyers forward Derick Brassard sent a puck to net front from the right corner behind the goal line. His intentional lob to see what might happen hit Carson Soucy's skate, deflecting past a nothing-he-could-do Grubauer to make it 3-0 during the 14-minute mark of the opening period.