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Wrap: Flyers Fall to Avalanche, 4-1

October 22, 2018, 11:07 PM ET [399 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Fall to Avalanche, 4-1

One step forward, one step back: Coming off what should have been a springboard game on Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers dug themselves a hole that they were unable to climb out of in a a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday. The Flyers dropped to 4-5-0 through nine games overall and still have yet to win back-to-back games.

The Flyers were fortunate to go to the first intermission trailing just 1-0, as goaltender Brian Elliott did his part. Although first period shots were reasonably close (14-11 in Colorado's favor), the Avalanche generated far better quality. The Flyers' play picked up in the second, but the disadvantage doubled to 2-0 off a failed breakout, a lost battle in the defensive zone and a goal from the deep slot through some traffic and off Elliott's blocker into the net. In the third period, the Flyers made a heavy push but were already down 3-0 by that point, and it was both too little and too late.

Special teams once again got away from Philly. The Flyers were 1-for-2 on the PK and 0-for-3 on the power play, failing to generate momentum as well as goal production.

After a careless early tripping penalty by Jordan Weal -- who has made regular trips to the penalty box the last few games -- the Flyers paid the price on the penalty kill. A positional mistake by Sean Couturier and a three-shot sequence that ended with a spectacular pass by Nathan MacKinnon to goal-scorer Mikko Rantanen gave Elliott no prayer at stopping the eventual goal.

The dynamic Colorado top line trio of MacKinnon (one assist), Gabriel Landeskog (breakaway goal in the third period, one assist, strong play on both sides of the puck and along the walls) and Rantanen (power play and even strength goals) was lethal to the Flyers in this game. By far, they outplayed the Flyers' top trio of Couturier, Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds. Matt Nieto also scored for Colorado, making it 2-0 in the second period right after the Flyers generated their first sustained offensive push the other way.

The Nieto goal started with Robert Hägg -- who had a very rough game on Monday apart from breaking up a third-period 3-on-1 -- failing to complete an outlet pass. It was tipped by a Colorado stick and then intercepted. The Flyers never had possession again. Losing a battle down low, the puck was centered by Matt Calvert out to Nieto, who found the mark off Elliott's blocker.

The deficit grew to 3-0 at 2:25 of the third period, shortly after the Flyers generated very little from a carryover 1:58 power play that followed a slick dangle by Giroux in the closing seconds of the second period. Couturier won a right circle draw but the puck bounced and Giroux whiffed on a quick shot attempt. Landeskog grabbed the puck, broke over the middle on a breakaway and beat Elliott on the backhand.

One bright spot for the Flyers was the play of Travis Sanheim, who rattled off his fifth straight strong overall game. Activating frequently in the offensive zone, Sanheim (20:01 of ice time) generated five shots on goal on seven attempts.

In the second period, a Sanheim rebound squirted out in the blue paint by Oskar Lindblom was denied in trying to stuff it home. In the third period, Sanheim's low and deflectable point shot was tipped on net by Jordan Weal. Later, Sanheim fired off a similar shot and this one was deflected home by Nolan Patrick to cut the deficit to 3-1. Rantanen subsequently added an empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final.

The Flyers lost winger Michael Raffl to a lower-body injury in the second period. Jostled by Colorado defenseman Patrik Nemeth, Raffl went into the board awkwardly. He was helped off the ice by trainer Jim McCrossin, unable to put weight on his left foot.

Chasing the game, Philadelphia shortened the defensive bench for portions of the third period: Ivan Provorov (28:45 TOI, four shots on goal on eight attempts, minus-three) was reunited with Shayne Gostisbehere (20:38 TOI, three shots on goal on six attempts). The Sanheim pairing with Radko Gudas was rolled out regularly.

Winning goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 37 of 38 shots. Elliott stopped 29 of 32.

The Flyers will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, the team is on the road to take on the Boston Bruins.
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