By The Canadian Press

Flyers top Canucks 6-3 in head coach Rick Tocchet’s return to Vancouver

Dec 30, 2025 | 10:48 PM

VANCOUVER — Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet guided Philadelphia to a 6-3 victory over his former team, the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

Tocchet, who walked away from the same position with the Canucks in late April, was recognized on the big screen midway through the first period and was met by both boisterous boos and a smattering of cheers.

Bobby Brick, Noah Cates and Travis Konecny each registered a goal and an assist, while Carl Grundstrom, Owen Tippet and Christian Dvorak also scored for the Flyers (20-11-7), while Dan Vladar stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced in Philly’s net.

Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras each contributed a pair of helpers.

The Canucks (16-20-3) controlled play early and took a 1-0 lead when David Kampf scored 3:45 into the game.

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The Vancouver centre and Drew O’Connor each had a goal and assist for Vancouver, Tom Willander scored his second of the season, and Thatcher Demko made 27 saves.

The home side, which ground out a 3-2 shootout win over the Kraken in Seattle on Monday, couldn’t keep up the early pressure and fell behind early in the second frame.

TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: Kampf and Jake DeBrusk returned to the lineup after being health scratches in Seattle on Monday. DeBrusk started on the fourth line but quickly moved up to skate alongside centre Elias Pettersson. Kampf spent the night on the third line with O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood.

Flyers: After getting outshot 10-0 across the first 10 minutes of the game, Philadelphia picked up steam. The Flyers amped up the physicality and found ways to clog up the neutral zone, limiting Vancouver’s chances, forcing turnovers and causing ample frustration.

KEY MOMENT

Grundstrom gave Philadelphia the lead 3:40 into the second, collecting a puck from Nikita Grebenkin on his backhand, moving it to his forehand and firing a quick wrist shot up and over Demko to make it 2-1. The Swedish winger now has seven goals on the season, including one in each of his last four games.

KEY STAT

Cates and Brink each scored their 10th goal of the season, giving Philadelphia six players with double-digit goals in 2025-26. The Montreal Canadiens are the only other team with six or more double-digit goal scorers at this point of the campaign.

UP NEXT

Flyers: Visit the Flames in Calgary on Wednesday.

Canucks: Host the Seattle Kraken on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press