Philadelphia Flyers' Michael Bunting (58) scores on Vancouver Canucks goalkeeper Leevi Meriläinen (31) as Elias Pettersson (25) and Luke Schenn (2) watch during the first period of an NHL game in Vancouver on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

By The Canadian Press

Dvorak assists Flyers as they outlast Canucks 3-1 in battle of struggling squads

Nov 9, 2026 | 10:25 PM

VANCOUVER — The Philadelphia Flyers withstood a late rally to down the struggling Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Monday.

Michael Bunting, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim all scored for the Flyers (5-10-5), and Christian Dvorak registered a pair of assists.

Joseph Woll stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced for Philadelphia, which was coming off a 4-3 overtime loss on Sunday to the Flames in Calgary.

The Canucks (3-16-1) replied with a power-play goal from Jonathan Lekkerimaki midway through the third period, then continued to press but couldn’t find the equalizer.

Leevi Merilainen made 14 stops for Vancouver as the team lost its sixth game in a row.

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Bunting got on the board just over two minutes into the game on Monday off a broken rush.

Bunting carried the puck up the ice along the boards and chipped it to Dvorak at the top of the slot. Canucks blue liner Luke Schenn broke up Dvorak’s chance, but Bunting collected the loose puck in the slot and fired it in past Merilainen to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

Philadelphia added a power-play tally at the 3:05 mark of the second when Matvei Michkov picked off a puck behind the Vancouver net and dished it to Konecny, stationed at the top of the crease. The winger deflected it in for his second goal of the season.

The visitors appeared to repeat the feat 25 seconds into the third period when Trevor Zegras sliced a pass to Tyson Foerster and the right-winger blasted a wrist shot past Merilainen from the top of the faceoff circle.

The Canucks challenged for an offside zone entry and, after a video review, the goal was called back.

With Bunting in the box for elbowing, Lekkerimaki got the home side on the board at the 12:44 mark of the third, firing a one-timer past Woll from the faceoff dot.

He nearly scored his second of the game minutes later, but saw his shot ring off the crossbar instead.

Vancouver got an extended stretch of 6-on-4 play when Woll was handed a delay-of-game penalty for knocking his mask off with two minutes and 49 seconds to go.

The Canucks opted to pull Merilainen in favour of an extra attacker, but Sanheim sent a puck into the yawning net with 58.3 seconds left on the clock.

TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: Came in as the rested team but were heavily outplayed through the first two periods. Vancouver rallied in the third, outshooting the visitors 13-2 across the stretch but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Flyers: Bunting returned to the lineup after sitting out five games as a healthy scratch. He skated on the top line alongside Dvorak and Owen Tippett.

KEY MOMENT

The Canucks came within inches of levelling the score on a power play at the 14:08 mark of the third period, but Lekkerimaki’s shot pinged off the crossbar.

KEY STAT

Sanheim scored his empty-net strike on Philadelphia’s first shot of the third period.

UP NEXT

Flyers: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

Canucks: Host the New York Rangers on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press