Lankinen makes 26 saves, Canucks shut out Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for the Vancouver Canucks in a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

It was Lankinen’s first shutout of the season, and his fourth in the NHL.

"I kind of hold myself accountable and I have high standards for myself," Lankinen said. "So I'm obviously happy for the result, but even happier for the boys. ... I think we put that effort like that on a night like this, that shows the character of the team."

Nils Hoglander, Brock Boeser and Kiefer Sherwood scored for the Canucks (2-1-2), who won their second straight game after losing their first three (0-1-2), including 3-2 in a shootout to the Flyers on Oct. 11.

Samuel Ersson made 29 saves for the Flyers (1-3-1), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1).

"It seemed like we definitely had our opportunities," Philadelphia defenseman Erik Johnson said. "Their goalie played well, and we just weren't able to find the back of the net. We wanted to score for our fans and give them a good show, but unfortunately, couldn't find the back of the net, and their goalie made some big saves."

Lankinen signed a one-year, $875,000 contract Sept. 21, after training camp opened. Despite his late arrival, he has started consecutive games after Vancouver alternated starts between Lankinen and Arturs Silovs in the first four games.

"Whenever I get the nod, I just try to put my best foot forward and stay present," Lankinen said. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to start here and play for these guys. I'm just doing my best to keep sharp and help the team win.

"I'm feeling comfortable, feeling confident. I think I'm feeling confident ever since I got here, just knowing some of the guys. The guys [have] been really great at welcoming me and making me feel good and comfortable just around everybody. And I think just this team, just how good it is, it's fun to play behind it. And the system and the guys we have here just prove it every single night. So, I'm really confident and happy where we at, but obviously there's still a lot to build on."

With No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury, Lankinen could be in line for even more playing time moving forward.

"We've got good goaltending here," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's still early but he's put three good games together. He just looks really solid. Even when we were running around a little bit he was in his net, he looked big in his net, he wasn't flopping all around. He was really steady.

"He played two exhibition games and he's got three games right now, and I don't think he's had a bad start. He's been a factor in every game."

Hoglander put Vancouver ahead 1-0 at 16:09 of the first period with a tap-in goal on the right post.

Boeser made it 2-0 at 8:40 of the second period when he scored from the left post on a pass from defenseman Tyler Myers, who played his 1,000th NHL game.

As excited as he is to reach 1,000 games, Myers said doing it with the Canucks makes it extra special. He signed a three-year, $9 million contract June 27 to remain in Vancouver rather than test free agency.

"It means a lot, more so to do it with this group," Myers said of his 1,000th game. "I love this group, and thinking back to the summer and not knowing what it was going to be like, and to be able to come back and do it with these guys, get a win, it's just a great night."

Sherwood scored his first goal with the Canucks off a face-off at 9:30 to put Vancouver ahead 3-0. He signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Canucks on July 1.

Philadelphia outshot Vancouver 19-17 in the final two periods, including 7-4 in the third, but came up empty. In addition to the Flyers' 26 shots on goal, they missed the net on 23 shot attempts.

"As the second period went on, we moved the lines around, we started creating some offense," coach John Tortorella said. "Hit some posts, some almost plays. Played better as the game went on."

NOTES: Myers is the 400th NHL player to skate in 1,000 games. ... Canucks center J.T. Miller took two face-offs in 17:01 of ice time but just one after the opening puck drop. "He's dealing with some stuff," Tocchet said. "We'll figure it out over the next couple days, but we didn't want him to take draws." Tocchet said he was hopeful Miller would be able to play at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. ... Flyers forward Sean Couturier played his 800th game. He's the fourth player to skate in that many for Philadelphia, along with Bobby Clarke (1,144), Claude Giroux (1,000) and Bill Barber (903). ... Flyers forward Bobby Brink had his season-opening four-game point streak end (one goal, three assists).