VANCOUVER — If the Canucks were wondering who would fill the offensive gap left behind by injured top-line forward Bo Horvat, the answer wasn't clear Thursday night.
Vancouver dropped a 4-1 decision to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, led by Shayne Gostisbehere and Claude Giroux with a goal and an assist each.
The Canucks learned earlier in the day that Horvat could miss up to six weeks with a fractured foot. He is second on the team with 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 28 games, and his offensive prowess is already being missed.
"When you lose top guys in your lineup someone else has to step up," said Canucks head coach Travis Green. "And a lot of times it's by committee. You can't expect one person to become Bo Horvat."
But it wasn't a lack of offence that doomed the Canucks on Tuesday. In fact, Vancouver outshot Philadelphia 37-26. It was a parade to the penalty box, with Vancouver giving up six power-play opportunities. The Flyers, playing the second of a back-to-back and riding a modest win streak, made them pay with goals by Gostisbehere and Giroux on the man advantage.
"On 5-on-5, I thought we deserved better," said Henrik Sedin. "But we took too many penalties and gave up two on the penalty kill and that was the difference."
Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds also scored for the Flyers (11-11-7), who have done a complete 180 with three straight wins after a dreadful 10-game losing streak. Jakub Voracek had three assists.
"It's good for our confidence," said Giroux. "We changed a couple things how we want to play and our identity as a team and everybody has bought into it. It makes it a lot more fun.
"We deserve it. We have been through a really tough stretch and we're battling back right now. We have a lot of character in this room. It's one of the tightest groups I have been on and we are just playing on the same page right now."
Philadelphia's Brian Elliott made 36 saves for his 200th NHL victory.
"My goalie coach shook my hand and said 200 and it's pretty special for me," said Elliott. "You get your first win and you just try to stay in the League and play your game and try to win a Stanley Cup. But reaching milestones like that means a lot and hopefully I can go for another hundred."
Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks (14-11-4), who had a three-game win streak snapped on the last night of a three-game home stand. Jacob Markstrom, coming off his first career NHL shutout, stopped 22 shots for Vancouver.
Philadelphia scored first on its second of three straight man advantages in the first period. Gostisbehere fired from the blue line, the puck caromed off Sam Gagner's stick and cleared traffic to open the scoring at 14:08.
It was 2-0 only 45 seconds into the second when Raffl tipped in a Voracek pass. Vancouver's penalties cost the club again midway in the second when Giroux one-timed a pass from Gostisbehere.
The Canucks got on the board with just 19 seconds left in the second. Boeser picked up a Sven Baertschi rebound at the top of the Flyers crease and backhanded it in. The goal was Boeser's 14th of the year. Simmonds added the empty-netter insurance with just over a minute left to play.
Notes: The Canucks announced a trade after the game. Vancouver acquired forward Nic Dowd from the LA Kings for defenceman Jordan Subban. … Alex Burmistrov drew back in the Canucks lineup after being a healthy scratch for three straight games… The Flyers were without Brandon Manning (upper body) and Michal Neuvirth (lower body).
Jason Keller, The Canadian Press