POSTGAME 5: Flyers Stop Avalanche, 5-3

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 5-3, at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday. It was a hard-working win for the Flyers, although things got a little dicey near the end. Twelve different Flyers players recorded at least one point.

In the first period, an early power play goal by Alex Newhook (5th) was answered by 5-on-5 goals by Travis Sanheim (3rd) and Tanner Laczynski (2nd). A Tony DeAngelo power play goal (4th) opened a 3-1 Flyers lead at 3:59 of the second period.
In the final stanza, an Owen Tippett power play tally (7th) opened a three-goal lead. At 17:47, Mikko Rantanen (15th) powered through the middle and scored. On a 6-on-5, Newhook scored his second goal of the game (6th of the season) at 18:23 to cut the gap to 4-3. Finally, at 19:00, Travis Konecny (10th) restored a 5-3 lead with an empty-net goal.
Carter Hart earned the win with 29 saves on 32 shots. Alexandar Georgiev took the loss, stopping 29 of 34 shots.
It was a costly game for the already injury-riddled Avalanche. Superstar center Nathan MacKinnon exited the game in the first period and did return.
For the second straight game, the Flyers won the special teams battle. Philly went 2-for-3 on the power play. The Avalanche were 1-for-5. Colorado scored on their first man advantage, but went 0-for-4 over the rest of the game after MacKinnon left.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 17 Zack MacEwen
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
Due to the late Colorado rally, Laczynski's goal did not officially go down as the game-winner for the Flyers (Tippett's did). However, the Flyers led the rest of the way after the Laczynski goal, and it was huge both for the young forward individually and the team as a whole. The Flyers went on to control much of the second period, and expand their lead. In the third period, the Flyers ended up needing the three-goal cushion they built as Colorado erased two-thirds of it before the Konecny empty netter.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Flyers had three of the game's first five shots on goal. Colorado went on the power play at 3:33 when Hayes was called for holding Nathan MacKinnon in the neutral zone. Boasting the NHL's top-ranked power play, Colorado grabbed a 1-0 lead at 3:50. Newhook, stationed in front of the net, tipped home a Cale Makar shot. The secondary assist went to Nathan MacKinnon.
Philly drew even at 7:29. After a Laughton shot attempt was blocked, the Flyers controlled and cycled. Receiving a pass from Laughton, Sanheim found space over the middle and his snap shot from the deep center through traffic beat Georgiev. The assists went to Laughton and MacEwen.
At 8:30, the Flyers were back on the penalty kill as Laczynski was sent off for tripping Jayson Megna. The Flyers got through this PK successfully after being scored against on the first.
MacKinnon left the game midway through the opening period. He did not return. Through 16 minutes, shots on goal were 12-6 in Colorado's favor.
The Flyers made it 2-1 at 18:05. Brown blocked a shot and then banked the puck off the boards, starting a rush for Philadelphia. Gaining the offensive zone, Farabee fired a shot off Georgiev's left pad, hoping for a rebound. He got his wish as the puck went directly to an oncoming Laczynski, who stashed it home.
In the waning seconds of the first period, Hart made a tough stop on Jacob MacDonald to send the Flyers to intermission with a 1-0 lead.
2) The first period was rather wide open. Sanheim had an especially strong period with the puck on his stick. Georgiev looked shaky at times and both goalies had some issues holding onto pucks. Shots on goal were 15-11 in Colorado's favor. Shot attempts were 31-15 Colorado. Scoring chances were 15-11 Avalanche with a 9-1 high-danger edge to Colorado (5-1 at five-on-five). The two teams combined for 24 credited hits (14 for the Flyers). The Flyers blocked 11 shots, led by three from Brown.
3) Laughton had an early scoring chance in the second period off a Sedlak defensive play. Then the Frost line spent an extended shift in the offensive zone. A shift later,with the Flyers still attacking, MacEwen fired a shot on net.
Konecny landed a big hit on Newhook. The Flyers went on their first power play at 3:01 as Alex Galchenyuk was called for hooking, The Flyers cashed it in at 3:59. Frost and DeAngelo jockeyed the puck up high. DeAngelo's wrister from the point found its way through a Cates screen. The assists went to Frost and Hayes.
At 4:50, Georgiev had trouble corralling a Laughton rebound. Tippett wasn't quite able to get there in time to tuck it home.
At 5:36, Farabee was called for tripping Samuel Girard at the defensive blueline. Laughton made a strong stick-on-puck play and cleared the puck. At the other end, Konecny landed a crunching hit on Makar. Shot attempts by JT Compher and Mikko Rantanen were rejected with authority by Provorov, Ristolainen blocked a shot and cleared the puck to safely late in the kill.
Caters and Laczynski won successive puck battles. Colorado turned a puck over behind the net, leading to a flurry for the Flyers' fourth line. On a partial line change, Frost and DeAngelo came out on the ice. Off a pass from Frost, Seeler pinched in for a scoring chance.There was a scrum after the whistle at 9:07.
Shots on goal were 7-1 Flyers through 11 minutes.A partial 2-on-1 for Hayes at Konency led to a power play as Galchenyuk hooked TK to slow him down going to the net. The Flyers had extensive puck possession time and good puck movement but couldn't pot a goal.
With 5:31 remaining in the period, Hart stopped a perimeter shot from Girard. It was only the third shot he saw in the middle frame.
DWith 4:30 left in the period, Hart had to make a considerably tougher stop as he stoned Martin Kaut on a breakaway. A backchecking Sanheim broke up a dangerous looking play by Newhook.
Georgiev made a strong glove save on Tippett with 1:58 left in the period. At 18:48, DeAngelo was called for cross-checking Blidh in the neutral zone. Konecny had a late shorthanded rush against Makar. The Avalanche took 48 seconds of carryover power play time into the third period.
4) Second period shots on goal were 12-5 in the Flyers' favor. Scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick were 8-7 Avs. Through two periods, the Flyers were credited with 33 hits (led by six for Deslauriers) to 15 for Colorado. Philly was credited with 20 blocked shots over the first 40 minutes.
5) Konecny blocked a shot during the carryover PK. With eight seconds left on the penalty, Newhook tooka deflected puck to the face, causing a nasty abrasion. He went back to the bench but was able to return for his next shift.
At 2:10, Farabee went in on the forecheck and took the skates out from under Makar behind the Colorado net, sending the Avs back to the power play net again. Sedlak and Brown broke up successive entry attempts. With 21 seconds left, Ristolainen blocked a Makar shot out of play. As the penalty expired, Konecny joined Farabee on a 2-on-1. The sequence looked a lot like the Laczynski goal but this rebound eluded Konecny.
Makar stripped Brown of the puck and went in on a partial breakaway. Hart made the save. As the shift continued, the Flyers goalie denied a Charles Hudon wraparound and then a follow-up attempt. At 8:20, Hart gloved down an Erik Johnson shot from the deep center slot, which the goalie saw all the way.
Sedlak took a high-stick from Makar behind the Colorado net at 8:47. The first unit generated good pressure and then the second unit made it a 4-1 game at 9:54. A Laughton shot caromed off the boards and out to Tippett, who fired it into the net from the left circle. The secondary assist was credited to Provorov.
With 5:14 left in the third period, Sedlak worked a give-and-go with Brown. Georgiev made the save in close to keep the Colorado deficit at three goals.
The lead seemed comfortable, but the Flyers are a team that rarely makes things easy on itself. On a spectacular individual effort, Rantanen beat three Flyers off the rush, splitting the D and scoring at 17:47. The lone assist went to Johnson.
The Avalanche pulled Georgiev for an extra attacker. During the 6-on-5, the Avalanche cut the Flyers' lead to a single goal. Newhook got wide open in the low slot to take a pass from Compher and score. Devon Toews got the secondary assist.
The 6-on-5 continued with Colorado taking aim at a tying goal. Hayes failed to get the puck out of the defensive zone. Finally, Sanheim triggered a counter. Konecny finished it off into an empty net off a pass from Hayes.
Laughton had a final look at the open net from just behind the red line. He missed. But the game was over except for a final drop of the puck. Third period shots on goal were 12-11 Colorado.