Makar, Kadri Lead Avalanche to Rout Over Flyers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Coming off a win in St. Louis to face the NHL's best team, the odds were plenty stacked against the Flyers in Colorado. By the end of the first period, the game was essentially out of reach.

The Avalanche used a four-goal first period to set the tone, as the Flyers were handed a 6-3 loss on Friday night.

The Avalanche came out firing, leading to the inevitable at 7:20. Off a rush, Nazem Kadri used Nick Seeler as a screen and beat Carter Hart with a shot for his 25th goal of the season.

Even with the Flyers spending a ton of time in their own zone, they did get the game tied at 13:02. Joel Farabee won a puck battle along the wall and got the puck to James van Riemsdyk. The initial shot was stopped, but van Riemsdyk followed up to get his own rebound and score, evening things at one with his 16th goal of the season.

The tie lasted just 44 seconds. Colorado got a power play and took just five seconds to take advantage, as Cale Makar scored his 23rd goal of the season to make it 2-1. 

Less than three minutes later, Colorado extended the lead. JT Compher had the puck behind the net and tried to play it out it front. The puck hit the stick of Seeler and banked off of Hart's back and in to make it 3-1. 

Less than two minutes later with 1:54 remaining in the period, Mikko Rantanen added to the lead with a pass that deflected off the stick of Keith Yandle and in to make it 4-1.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 18-10 Colorado. 

The Avalanche continued to dominate play in the second, outshooting the Flyers, 19-10. The two teams did trade goals in the period.

First, the Avalanche opened up a 5-1 lead, as Kurtis MacDermid scored off a face-off at 12:19. With 31.3 seconds left in the period, Zack MacEwen got a break and scored his second goal of the season to cut the lead to 5-2.

At 7:44 of the third, the Flyers cut the lead to two. Travis Sanheim's shot was stopped, but Max Willman put home the rebound to make it 5-3 with his third goal of the season.

That goal was quickly answered by Makar just 41 seconds later, making it a 6-3 game. 

Pavel Francouz made 29 saves in the win. Hart made 44 saves in the loss.

Five Avalanche players finished with multi-point games. Kadri had a goal and two assists. Rantanen and Compher had a goal and an assist. Makar had two goals. Erik Johnson had two assists. 

The Flyers continue the road trip on Sunday evening with a game against the Nashville Predators at 6 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• COL Nazem Kadri (25) (JT Compher, Erik Johnson) 7:20
• PHI James van Riemsdyk (16) (Joel Farabee, Cam Atkinson) 13:02
• COL Cale Makar (23) PP (Kadri) 13:46
• COL Compher (13) (Kadri, Josh Manson) 16:17
• COL Mikko Rantanen (32) (Nathan MacKinnon, E. Johnson) 18:06

2nd Period

• COL Kurtis MacDermid (2) (Andrew Cogliano, Darren Helm) 12:19
• PHI Zack MacEwen (2) (Cam York) 19:28

3rd Period

• PHI Max Willman (3) (Travis Sanheim, Kevin Hayes) 7:44
• COL Makar (24) (Rantanen) 8:25

Game Statistics