VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Chris VandeVelde knew how Nick Cousins felt toiling with the Phantoms, putting up some impressive numbers and wondering if he'd ever get a call-up to the NHL level.
The same thing happened to VandeVelde in the past and now he’s a Flyer.
“If you don’t ever get that opportunity, you never know how it could have been,” VandeVelde said. “Or how good you can be.”
Cousins said he had similar thoughts this season at Lehigh Valley.
“Yeah, it’s tough, obviously being down there and you’re just waiting for your chance to get called up,” said the rookie, who made his NHL debut on Tuesday against the Canucks during a 4-1 loss (see game story).
“I was fortunate enough to get called up and I’m excited to be here. My first NHL game tonight.”
Cousins played 10:04 and won five of six faceoffs.
“It was faster than the AHL and a lot more structure,” Cousins said. “It took me a while to get used to. After I got some shifts under me I felt comfortable as the game went on.”
He had a scoring chance on Eddie Lack in the second period.
“I tried to shoot it over his glove but he made a pretty good save,” said Cousins, who worked between Ryan White and Zac Rinaldo.
Cousins’ parents, brother and sister all flew in from Toronto for the game.
“I think you always remember your first game,” he said.
Flyers coach Craig Berube liked what he saw.
“Fast game out there tonight and he looked like he had the pace for it,” Berube said. “Competitive guy. Strong on the puck. He played a real solid game.”
Cousins was named the AHL Player of the Week after collecting four goals and two assists for six points in three games. He has 21 goals and 34 assists for 55 points in 61 games for the Phantoms.
The 21-year-old centerman got into the lineup because Matt Read returned to Philadelphia after Sunday to be with his wife, Erin, who had a baby this week.
Cousins was the Flyers’ third-round pick in 2011 as part of the deal that originally sent Jeff Carter to Columbus.
His role in this game is where he projects as a third- or fourth-line player.
“Well, that’s obviously the goal, to play as up in the lineup as high as you can and play to your potential,” Cousins said. “I think for me, you’re always going to have doubters, right? I think that’s what motivates me the most. For me, it’s just play my game.”
He found out he was playing on Twitter.
“Yeah, I was having lunch with (Brandon) Manning and we just saw it and we kind of looked each other ... and then I got a text from Chief (Berube) yesterday at 1 o'clock saying I was playing,” he said.
Cousins became the fifth Flyer to make his NHL debut this season, joining Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Shayne Gostisbehere, Petr Straka and Rob Zepp.
Fastest goals
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the two goals from Alexandre Burrows in a 17-second span were the fastest pair of goals against the Flyers since Nov. 18, 2010, when Tampa Bay scored twice in 16 seconds during the first period of an 8-7 Flyers loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
Additionally, the two goals by Burrows were the quickest against the Flyers by the same player since Jan. 21, 1993, when Boston’s Vladimir Ruzicka scored twice in 14 seconds in a 5-4 Flyers loss at the Spectrum.
Winless
Vancouver won both games this season. The last time the Flyers went winless in a season against the Canucks when playing them more than once was 1991-92, when they were 0-1-1. The last time they lost multiple games to Vancouver in regulation in a season was 1988-89, when they were 0-3-0.