Postgame 5: Flyers Roll Past Avalanche, 5-2

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2, in an action-packed game at Ball Arena on Saturday evening. The Flyers (15-10-2) have won four straight games and have collected points in five matches in a row.

On Saturday, the Flyers needed everyone in the lineup to contribute yeoman efforts to match the waves of attack the Avalanche threw at them. The Philadelphia players responded. Philly needed clutch scoring. They got it.

Last but not least, the Flyers needed outstanding goaltending with a slew of clutch saves by Carter Hart. The Flyers received that, too. Meanwhile, the Philly skaters blocked 23 shots to assist the D-zone effort.

"Total team effort" is an overused description for hard-working wins, but that's exactly what the Flyers delivered, up and down the lineup, on Saturday.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 17:41 of the first period on Travis Konecny's 15th goal of the season). The sequence started with Carter Hart keeping the play alive near the Philadelphia net. Up the ice, after taking a pass from Tyson Foerster, Sean Couturier sent the puck to Konecny, whose wrist shot from the slot beat Ivan Prosvetsov.

Colorado got the goal right back at 18:59. Nathan MacKinnon (11th goal of the season) sped into the Flyers zone, went past Rasmus Ristolainen to the outside and wristed a shot that caught Hart deep in his net and off-balance. Josh Manson and Devon Toews picked up the assists. MacKinnon extended his point streak to 11 straight games.

A save by Hart on Miles Wood started a counter-attack for the Flyers and an eventual goal by Owen Tippett (9th) to take a 2-1 lead. Frost checked the puck away from Wood (but apparently didn't touch it). Brink claimed the puck, moved up ice and fed Tippett. The initial shot attempt was stopped but Tippett followed up and scored on the rebound.

At 11:17 of the second period, Travis Sanheim (3rd goal of the season) gave Philly a 3-1 lead. Outstanding forechecking by Bobby Brink made the rest of the sequence possible, although he didn't record a point. The Flyers ultimately got the puck from Tippett to Frost. From down low, Frost found Sanheim open in the circle and Sanheim buried a shot. The assists went to Frost and Tippett.

Colorado drew within 3-2 at 12:28. Ryan Johansen cleanly won a right circle faceoff and snapped it back to Josh Manson at the right point. Manson's wrist shot didn't have much on it but it went past an accidental moving screen by Philly defenseman Nick Seeler into the net.

The slender 3-2 Philly lead held through a heavy Colorado push in the opening nine minutes of the third period. Colorado survived a Cam Atkinson breakaway and Joel Farabee follow-up attempt.

Finally, Konecny intercepted the puck in the defensive zone and raced off on a breakaway at 9:31. Konecny was fouled by MacKinnon for a penalty shot. On his ensuing opportunity, Konecny moved left and then cut right. His forehand attempt to the glove side went off Prosvetov's left pad and into the net for a 4-2 Philly edge.

Philly put a 5-2 stranglehold on the game at 10:18 of the third period. From the defensive zone, Frost outletted the puck to Sanheim. The Flyers' defenseman made a slick entry.  Prosvetov made a fine initial save but Brink shuffled the loose puck over to Farabee for a tap-in. The assists went to Brink and Sanheim.

Hart finished the game with 37 saves on 39 shots, earning second-star honors for the night. Prosvetsov stopped 29 of 34 shots, taking the loss.

The Flyes went 0-for-1 on the power play. The Avalanche were 0-for-2. The Flyers have now killed off 40 of their last 42 penalties.

Ryan Poehling missed his second straight game due to illness. The Flyers dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the game.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink

44 Nick Deslauriers - xxxxxxxxx - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula/18 Marc Staal - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]

TURNING POINT

There were multiple turning points and momentum swings on this night. The Flyers' 3-2 lead felt anything but safe as the midway point of the third period approached. Konecny's penalty shot goal gave Philly much-needed breathing room.

POSTGAME 5

1) Cale Makar had a look from the right slot on the game's first shift but fanned on the shot. On the next shift, Atkison fed Joel Farabee for a 2-on-1 chance off the rush. The Flyers iced the puck at 1:40. On the next shift, Seeler blocked a Miles Wood shot but the Av followed it up. Hart made the stop.

TIppett checked MacKinnon tightly but took a hooking penalty at 10:52. It was a ticky-tack call similar to one that was whistled against the Flyers against New Jersey a week earlier: a stick check that rode up accidentally into the hands. The Avs went right to the attack with Makar going to the net. Mikko Rantanen hit the post late in the power play. The Flyers survived (their 20th straight successful PK on the road). Hart made three saves.

Colorado continued to pressure after their power play. At 13:59, Tippett couldn't get to the red line and took an icing. The Flyers got hemmed in after losing the next draw. Philly iced again at 14:37. Shots on goal were 13-8 Colorado.

With 2:19 left in the period, the Flyers' Konecny scored off the Couturier feed, but the Avs got the goal right back 1:18 later.

2) For lengthy portions of the first period, the Flyers were forced to play in "bend but don't break" mode, hemmed in their defensive zone. Shots on goal were nearly even at 13-12 Avs, but shot attempts were 23-15 Avs at 5-on-5 and 30-15 Colorado overall when the Avs' power play was figured into the total. Scoring chances were 14-6 Avs. High-danger chances favored Colorado 7-4. The Flyers blocked eight shot attempts by Colorado. Faceoffs were 12-8 Flyers (Frost was 3-for-4, Laughton was 5-for-8).

3) Early in the second period, Farabee turned the puck over in the D-zone but then had a great chance late in his shift as Laughton threaded a pass through to him. At 1:50, Frost turned Ross Colton inside out at the blueline, moved in toward the net but could not slide the puck far enough through the five-hole.

At 5:55, Wood took the puck hard to the net on the rush. Hart stood his ground. At the other end of the ice, Foerster had a chance in close to the net. MacKinnon put an explosive wrister on net at 6:43 that Hart had to be alert to stop as the puck got on him in a hurry.

At 8:16, Tippett had a bang-bang chance off a clean right circle faceoff win by Frost. Later on the same shift, Tippett scored to make it 2-1 Flyers. Two minutes and 17 seconds later, Sanheim made it a 3-1 game. Colorado sliced the gap back to one goal at 12:28.

The Flyers went on their first power play in two games at the 13:03 mark as Joel Kiviranta was called for holding York's stick. The Flyers' Couturier won the first draw from the left circle and Philly quickly generated a scoring chance but Frost missed a 15-foot shot wide of the near-side post. From there, the power play went south. Frost had the puck taken away from him by Drew O'Connor and the Flyers gave up a shorthanded 2-on-1. O'Connor missed the net. Later, Wood had a second shorthanded bid for Colorado on the same kill, Hart made the save and then stopped Valeri Nichushkin on a followup attempt.

Immediately after the penalty expired, the Avalanche had a 3-on-1 with tired Flyers struggling to get back. Hart bailed out the team again.

At 17:12, Konecny was called for holding Makar while attempting to check him up high in the defensive zone. On the ensuing kill, Couturier made two excellent plays, smothering MacKinnon and clearing the zone. Atkinson had a late clear. The Flyers were now 40 for their last 42 on PK opportunities.

4) Second period shots on goal favored Colorado, 15-12 (26-24 Colorado overall). Shot attempts favored Colorado 24-22 (53-38 Avs through 40 minutes). Scoring chances were 13-11 Flyers (27-19 Colorado overall). High-danger chances were 4-3 Flyers (11-8 overall in favor of the Avalanche through two periods). Faceoffs were 14-8 Flyers (26-16 Flyers overall with Couturier going 12-for-16 and Laughton 10-for-15).

5) Nick Deslauriers had a scoring chance in the opening two minutes of the third period but tipped the puck wide off a feed from Hathaway to the doorstep. At 3:30, the Flyers iced the puck.

Hart made an excellent save off a deflection by O'Connor at 4:36. Two shifts later, Hart denied Nichushkin off a toe-drag wrister from the left hash marks. Shots were 3-1 Colorado at this point. Right off the next draw, a clean win by MacKinnon, Rantanen fired a rising wrister on goal. Hart made the save.

Hart stopped Rantanen again around the 6:30 mark Nichushkin had a follow-up attempt.

Frost stole a puck in the defensive zone and sent Atkinson off on a breakaway. Prosvetov made a great initial save and then another one on Farabee's rebound follow-up attempt at the doorstep at 7:05

The Avs made another push but the Flyers struck fatal blows on the Konecny penalty shot at 9:31 and Farabee rebound goal at 10:17.

Brink made a nice feed to Frost on a rush. Prosvetov made the stop on the deep slot shout. At 14:20, Foerster made a strong play on the wall to win a battle and prolong a possession for Philly. Couturier followed it up.

Near the 16-minute mark, Atkinson turned a puck over on a lateral pass attempt just inside the defensive blueline. Hart stepped up to stop Nichushkin for his 36th save of the game. He'd make one more before the final buzzer.

Third period shots on goal were 11-10 Colorado (39-34 Avs for the game). Shot attempts were 24-18 Colorado (78-56 overall to the Avalanche). Scoring chances were 11-9 Colorado (39-29 overall in the Avs' favor). High-danger chances were 6-2 Flyers (14-13 Flyers overall). Third period faceoffs were 11-9 Colorado (35-27 overall in Philly's favor, led by Laughton at 15-for-24 and Couturier at 15-for-25).