Colorado Avalanche fall to Flyers in Philadelphia, 3-1
By Andrew Dill
Feb 6, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Steve Downie (9) and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda (8) battle in front of goalie Semyon Varlamov (1) during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Avalanche (36-16-5, 77 points) fell to the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night by the final score of 3-1. After a pretty much even first period, the Flyers would strike first on a power-play in the second period after John Mitchell was called for a two-minute minor for hooking Scott Hartnell. Mark Streit would be the player to strike as he connected on his 8th goal of the season for the early 1-0 lead. Vincent Lecavalier and Sean Couturier would get credit with the assists.
Before I go any further, late in the first period Patrick Bordeleau would check Flyers Brayden Schenn from behind into the boards. Schenn’s teammates would then go after Bordy behind the net and then would be sent to the box for a five-minute major for checking from behind and would also receive a game misconduct and was ejected. Head coach Patrick Roy‘s face would then turn very red and as he proceeded to disagree with the call.
Halfway into the third period, Michael Raffl of the Flyers would shoot one past Semyon Varlamov for the 2-0 lead for his 7th goal of the season. Sean Couturier picked up his second assist of the night and former Avalanche Steve Downie picked up the other helper.
The kid Nathan MacKinnon connected with less than three minutes to go in the game as he scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season as Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog picked up the points to make it a one score game. Colorado would pull goaltender Semyon Varlmaov trying to scratch a goal to send it to overtime but Claude Giroux would score the empty-net goal for the Flyers to seal the deal, 3-1.
Three Stars:
3: Semyon Varlamov (COL): 32-for-34 on save attempts, .941% save percentage.
2: Mark Streit (PHI): 1 goal.
1: Steve Mason (PHI): 38-for-39 on save attempts, .974% save percentage.
The Colorado Avalanche (36-16-5, 77 points) will play their final game on Saturday before the break as they will stay on the road and take on the New York Islanders. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM MT.