Postgame 5: Flyers Fall Short vs. Avs, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, on Monday evening at Wells Fargo Center. Trailing 3-0 in the third period, the Flyers pushed back within one goal. They were unable to find an equalizer.

The first period was scoreless. The Flyers played with good energy and generated a pair of power play chances. On the flip side, the Flyers struggled with turnovers, especially in the defensive zone, and were charged with seven giveaways. Shots on goal were 9-8 in Colorado's favor.

Colorado broke the deadlock near the midpoint of regulation and then later built on the lead after a disallowed tally took a would-be second goal off the board. Second period shots on goal favor Colorado, 9-7.

The deadly Cale Makar (7th goal of the season) found room to get open and scored from over the middle at 8:30 after a pass from NHL leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon. The secondary assist went to Devon Toews.

Makar struck again for nearly the same spot at 10:45 but the potential goal was wiped out on a goaltender interference challenge by the Flyers.

Colorado scored another one that counted on a power play goal at 15:08. Once again, Makar (second of the game, 8th of the season) was in the middle of it. The defenseman's shot changed direction off Nick Seeler and trickled into the net. The assists went to Casey Mittelstadt and Mikko Rantanen.

Mittestadt scored a 4-on-4 goal (7th) at 8:34 of the third period, potting a Rantanen rebound for a 3-0 lead. The secondary assist went to Jonathan Drouin.

At 11:48 of the third period, the Flyers cut the gap to 3-1. An explosive wrist shot from up high by Owen Tippett (4th goal of the season) found the twine. The assists went to Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim.

Scoring a goal in his second straight game, Tyson Foerster (4th) made it a 3-2 game as he jammed home the puck from the doorstep at 13:32. The assists went to Bobby Brink and Helge Grans.

In a losing cause, Flyers rookie goaltender Aleksei Kolosov stopped 26 of 29 shots. Colorado goalie Justus Annunen made 24 saves on 26 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Prior to Monday's game, the Flyers honored veteran defenseman Erik Johnson for attaining the Silver Stick milestone (1,000 career NHL regular season games) on Saturday against Buffalo. Twenty-two-year-old defenseman Grans made his NHL regular season debut in this match.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 10 Bobby Brink

90 Anthony Richard - 25 Ryan Poehling - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 5 Egor Zamulaa
5 Egor Zamula - 3 Helge Grans

35 Aleksei Kolosov

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

PP1: Andrae, Tippett, Couturier, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: Zamula, Foerster, Farabee, Brink, Richard

Scratches: 48 Morgan Frost (healthy), 36 Emil Andrae (mid-body injury), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), 8 Cam York (IR), 9 Jamie Drysdale (IR), 33 Samuel Ersson (IR, lower body).

TURNING POINT

The NHL's leading blueline scorer, Makar, showed why he is so deadly whenever he finds time and space as he turned a 0-0 deadlock into a 2-0 Avalanche lead in the second period. He nearly had a natural hat trick.

POSTGAME 5

1) Konecny had an awkward collision near the boards in the opening minute of the game. He returned for his next shift. At 5:19, Kolosov made a good save through traffic on Makar. At 6:23, there was a terrifying collision between referee Mitch Dunning and Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson. Dunning had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher to receive medical attention. Play resumed with one referee and two linesmen.

2) Sanheim saved an almost certain goal by Mittelstadt at 8:02 of the first period. Two shifts later, Brink created a scoring chance after stripping a defender of the puck and finding Farabee. The Flyers went to the game's first power play at 12:03 as Mikko Rantanen was called for slashing Sanheim. Just 14 seconds later, Foerster was sent off for high sticking Toews.

3) An interference penalty on Garnet Hathaway at 5:33 of the second period put Colorado on its second power play. The Flyers had essentially a 2-on-0 shorthanded (the defender did not have a stick) but Foerster was denied by Annunnen. At the other end of the ice Kolosov made a good glove save on Rantanen.

4) Under Rule 69 in the NHL Rule Book, which addresses goaltender interference, incidental contact or a screen created within the blue paint is a no-goal directive. That was why the Flyers challenged Makar's would-be second goal and why it was disallowed on replay. Rule 69.3 states, "If an attacking player establishes a significant position within the goal crease, so as to obstruct the goalkeeper’s vision and impair his ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.”

5) The Flyers started the third period with a line of Couturier centering Richard and Konecny. On the second shift, Poehling was with Foerster and Hathaway. The third shift had Laughton centering Farabee and Michkov. Cates took the fourth shift with Brink and Tippett. The Flyers got a vital power play opportunity on a double minor on MacKinnon for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct at 4:41. With nine seconds left on the first minor, Brink took an offensive zone high sticking minor. After a Grans holding penalty at 7:13, the Avs scored on their 4-on-3. After their two-goal comeback, the Flyers had several good cracks at tying the game during a 6-on-5 attack. Third period shots favored the Flyers, 13-10.