Flyers Drop Wild Game to Avalanche in Shootout

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

At the end of the night, the Flyers were on the wrong end of the final score in a wild game. But they certainly had their chances.

The Flyers had to rally back twice in the third and came close to finding a way to win late in regulation and in overtime. Ultimately, it took a shootout, but the Colorado Avalanche were able to prevail by virtue of a 2-1 shootout score in a 5-4 Flyers loss on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Shots were hard to come by in the first 20 minutes, but both teams got a pair of power play chances to try to cash in.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play in the period with only one shot on goal during the man advantage. The Avalanche were held off the board on their first power play of the night, but managed to break the ice on the scoreboard in the final seconds of the first period.

A point shot by Tyson Barrie was stopped by Michal Neuvirth. The rebound came out to Nathan MacKinnon, who slid a pass across to Matt Duchene with a wide open net. Duchene scored with 1.6 seconds left in the period to put the Avalanche ahead after 20 minutes.

Shots in the first period were 9-5 Colorado.

The Flyers came out strong in the second and quickly jumped on a couple of chances.

Travis Konecny set up Valtteri Filppula for his sixth goal of the season with a great centering pass from the corner to cap off a great shift and tie the game at one at 1:21.

The Flyers got a power play shortly after and took advantage. A point shot by Shayne Gostisbehere was stopped, but left a big rebound in the slot. Claude Giroux found it and scored to make it a 2-1 Flyers lead with his eighth goal of the season.

The Flyers had a chance late in the period to extend their lead with a power play. But that's where the period took a turn.

A shorthanded two-on-one sent the Avalanche the other way and Blake Comeau went top shelf on Neuvirth to tie the game at 15:30.

The Avalanche were on the power play just seconds later, and took advantage with a favorable bounce. Mikko Rantanen's centering pass hit off Robert Hagg and drifted over the line for the go-ahead goal, giving Colorado the lead once again.

The Flyers got a power play in the final minute of the period off a delay of game penalty on Erik Johnson, but couldn't convert in the final 32 seconds of the period, carrying a one-goal deficit to the final 20 minutes.

In the second period, the Flyers outshot the Avalanche, 16-9.

Things turned wild in the third period as the teams rapidly traded goals and the game got more physical.

The Flyers started things off by tying the game at 4:33. A point shot by Hagg sat loose and Jake Voracek was able to poke it into the net to tie the game at three.

Just 1:14 later, Colorado regained the lead off a turnover. Gostisbehere had the puck stolen by Duchene, who moved the puck ahead to Nail Yakupov. Yakupov's shot managed to squeeze through the five-hole of Neuvirth for the go-ahead goal at 5:47.

Less than one minute later, the game was tied again. Jordan Weal put a centering pass right onto the tape of Dale Weise for a quick shot to even the score at four at 6:37.

The Flyers had chances to claim the lead as the third wore on. They outshot the Avalanche, 10-4, in the final period and had a late power play but failed to score. That sent the game to overtime.

The wild pace continued in overtime. The Flyers outshot the Avalanche, 6-5, in the five-minute three-on-three, with the Flyers getting several great chances, including a last-minute breakaway by Konecny that went high and wide.

The game went to a shootout, where the Flyers managed to get a goal by Weal in the first round. But MacKinnon and Rantanen each answered with goals to give the Avalanche the win.

The Flyers outshot the Avalanche for the game, 37-27. Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves in the win. Neuvirth made 23 saves in the defeat.

Voracek was the only Flyer to finish with multiple points, a goal and an assist. MacKinnon and Barrie each had two points for the Avalanche. The Flyers got points from 11 different players in the game.

The Flyers now get a bit of an extended break, as they will be off from game action until Thursday night to host the Chicago Blackhawks. Game time is at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• COL Matt Duchene (4) PP (Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie) 19:58

2nd Period

• PHI Valtteri Filppula (6) (Travis Konecny, Wayne Simmonds) 1:21
• PHI Claude Giroux (8) PP (Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Voracek) 6:31
• COL Blake Comeau (3) SH (Nathan MacKinnon, Patrik Nemeth) 15:30
• COL Mikko Rantanen (5) PP (Alexander Kerfoot, Barrie) 16:13

3rd Period

• PHI Voracek (3) (Robert Hagg, Travis Sanheim) 4:33
• COL Nail Yakupov (4) (Duchene) 5:37
• PHI Dale Weise (2) (Jordan Weal, Sanheim) 6:37

Overtime

• No Scoring

Shootout

• PHI Jordan Weal – Goal
• COL Nathan MacKinnon – Goal
• PHI Claude Giroux – Save
• COL Matt Duchene – Save
• PHI Jake Voracek – Save
• COL Mikko Rantanen – Goal

Game Statistics