The Philadelphia Flyers were unable to extend their winning streak or complete the furious third period comeback as the Colorado Avalanche hung on for the 7-4 win.
The Avalanche were powered by multi-goal games from Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon while Logan O’Connor scored a hat trick. For the Flyers, they got goals from Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny, and then 2 goals in a 3-minute span in the middle of the third from Tyson Foerster and Cam Atkinson.
A Scott Laughton penalty midway through the third period quelled their fight as Rantanen potted the power play marker and restored their 2-goal lead.
Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves as he earned his 25th win of the season, Carter Hart was pulled after allowing 5 goals on 15 shots, and Samuel Ersson started the third period in relief as he allowed one goal 7 shots.
Owen Tippett was forced out of the game with a lower body injury in the third period after an awkward fall along the boards where he landed on his leg.
Looking to extend their winning streak to 6 games, the Flyers welcomed the Avalanche within the confines of the Wells Fargo Center for game 2 of their 4-game homestand. After struggling out west and then coming back home to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers have rediscovered their magic and have played some dominating hockey, including a 5-1 drubbing of the Dallas Stars where they held them to 1 shot on goal in the first 26 minutes of the contest.
Carter Hart returned between the pipes today looking to improve on his 12-8-3 record, the Flyers went with an unchanged lineup meaning that Nicolas Deslauriers, Marc Staal, and Bobby Brink returned to the press box, and that also meant another game with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen that should be a common trend moving forward after the Jamie Drysdale trade.
As for the Avalanche, they have refound their own magic after having lost 7 of 11 games at the beginning of December. They’ve gone 10-3-1 in the following 14 games, have scored 57 goals along the way, and their power play has been white-hot as they have converted at a 32% clip.
Their depth has been tested especially with the losses of Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen, however Nathan MacKinnon has 24 goals and 73 points in 46 games, Mikko Rantanen has 24 goals and 58 points, and Cale Makar has 43 assists and 53 points in 41 games. After that it’s a steep drop off to Devon Toews at 28 points and Jonathan Drouin at 25.
Alexandar Georgiev returned between the pipes for his NHL-leading 39th game, coming into today’s matinee with a 24-11-2 record but a 2.95 GAA and a .894 SV%.
FIRST PERIOD
4:42 into the game, Jonathan Drouin was whistled for a slashing minor in the offensive zone against Rasmus Ristolainen. After a great start to the man advantage that saw the Flyers almost score the game’s opening goal, the Avalanche penalty kill clamped up in the neutral zone and didn’t allow them to re-enter the zone.
On Colorado’s 2nd shot of the game at the 9:58 mark of the game, a double deflection befuddled Carter Hart after Sam Malinski’s point shot was first deflected by Ross Colton’s stick and then off the raised skate of Logan O’Connor. It was under review but not for long as the goal was confirmed and represented his 9th tally of the season.
The Flyers hopped onto their 2nd power play of the game after Josh Manson clipped Tyson Foerster up high with 7:32 left in the period. Morgan Frost and Jamie Drysdale dazzled to start but no dice as the Avalanche killed their second consecutive penalty.
Then with 3:30 left on the clock, Travis Sanheim was called for a high-sticking minor, sending a very dangerous power play onto the ice. After a fantastic kill that kept the Avalanche from firing a shot, the Flyers couldn’t get the puck out of the zone and the big boys converted.
Mikko Rantanen slammed home a one-timer top-shelf over Hart after a pretty feed from Nathan MacKinnon – his 50th assist of the season – with 1:24 left.
The Flyers entered the first intermission in unchartered territory, trailing by 2 goals. They held a 12-5 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play.
SECOND PERIOD
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 3-0 lead just 43 seconds into the period. The Flyers turned it over with an errant pass before MacKinnon hopped off the bench with far too much speed, bursted through the defense, and then beat Hart glove-side for his 25th goal of the season.
1:06 later, Joel Farabee got the Flyers on the board after a sweet set up from Frost for his 16th of the season. From behind the net, Frost fed the puck through Malinski’s legs to Farabee who was streaking towards the blue paint for the one-time finish.
After fumbling with the puck before finally turning it over right in front of their own blue-line, O’Connor scored his second of the day on a one-time opportunity after being set up by Miles Wood with 11:46 left.
43 seconds later, Foerster was tripped up by Jason Polin to bring out the power play units for the third time. The second unit impressed yet again but couldn’t get the puck past Georgiev who was tasked in making 3 big stops.
Riding the wave of a momentum-building power play, Travis Konecny picked up the puck from along the boards, skated around to the point, and ripped a hard snap shot with 7:37 left on the clock. The goal represented his 22nd of the season.
With 2:55 remaining in the period, MacKinnon scored his 2nd goal of the game after a shot from the point squeaked through Hart for a back-breaking goal that rediscovered their 3-goal lead.
The Avalanche entered the 2nd intermission with a 5-2 lead while the Flyers were still up on the shot clock, 26-15.
THIRD PERIOD
As expected after that 5th goal and just based on John Tortorella’s instant reaction, Samuel Ersson came in relief of Hart to start the third.
With the Flyers coming out of the intermission with gusto, Foerster ripped an absolute seed of a shot short-side off the post past Georgiev with 14:32 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 2. It was the youngster’s 7th of the season and 2nd in goal in 5 games.
Cam Atkinson then remained white-hot as he recorded his 3rd point of the game with 11:49 left on the clock after he redirected a Ristolainen point shot for his 4th goal in as many games after suffering through a lengthy goal drought.
With the Flyers all over the Avalanche, the referees finally called a penalty but it was against Scott Laughton for hooking with 8:23 left on the clock. The veteran was furious as he headed towards the bench with the officials missing several calls against Colorado just a few shifts prior.
The Avalanche restored their 2-goal lead just 49 seconds into the man advantage after Cale Makar’s initial point shot squeaked through Ersson’s pad before Rantanen shovelled it over the red line for his 2nd of the night as well.
The Flyers pulled Ersson with 2:40 left in regulation and although they created several dangerous opportunities, they were not able to beat Georgiev for a 5th time as they fell in a hard fought battle against the Avalanche.
Logan O’Connor finished things up by scoring into the empty net and completing his first career hat trick. MacKinnon could have secured the hat trick for himself but fed it to O’Connor instead for his 3rd assist and 5th point of the game.
UP NEXT
The Flyers have the Ottawa Senators coming in tomorrow afternoon (1:00pm ET, NBCSP) to finish off the back-to-back set.
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