Flyers begin with win over ’Hawks in Prague
PRAGUE >> It was a successful home debut for Flyers coach Alain Vigneault — a long, long way from Philadelphia.
Travis Konecny had two goals and Vigneault won his first game with his new team, directing the Flyers to a season-opening 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
Oskar Lindblom and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers in front of a sellout crowd of 17,463 at Prague’s O2 Arena as part of the NHL’s Global Series. Carter Hart stopped 28 shots.
It was the first regular-season game outside of North America in Philadelphia’s 52-year history.
“I think tonight’s game, everybody was down there, everybody was consistent in what we were doing and it was a team win,” Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for Chicago, which opened the 2009-10 season in Finland. Alex Nylander and Alex DeBrincat also scored.
“I like the way we fought back,” said Kane, who had a career-high 110 points last season. “Whatever the numbers were tonight, I still think I have more to give to the team.”
The Blackhawks are hoping to return to the playoffs after a twoyear absence, but defensemen Dennis Gilbert and Slater Koekkoek each made a costly mistake after the blue liners struggled last year.
Konecny turned Gilbert’s turnover into a 1-0 lead for Philadelphia 6:24 into the first, beating Corey Crawford on the glove side.
Lindblom was credited with a power-play goal 6:28 into the second when his shot bounced off the crossbar and was deflected by Koekkoek into his own net. Konecny then converted a backhander with 1:56 left in the period, giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead.
Chicago played without defensemen Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy due to injuries.
“We turned way too many pucks over, that’s where we exposed ourselves defensively,” coach Jeremy Colliton said.
Vigneault became the 21st coach in Flyers history in April after they missed the playoffs for the fourth time in seven seasons. He also has coached Montreal, Vancouver and the New York Rangers.
He was behind the bench as Philadelphia held off Chicago in the 26th NHL regular-season game played in Europe, and the fifth in Prague.