November 18, 2024
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Joel Farabee and the Flyers hit a wall against the Avalanche on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers went into Monday night with momentum – three straight, hard-fought wins to bring them back to .500, with signs that maybe a few things were starting to click.
Then the Colorado Avalanche came into the Wells Fargo Center and put up a wall, up until the Flyers found the cracks to hack away at with time running short.
Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar rifled two goals through and Casey Mittelstadt tacked on one for insurance that looked to have Colorado cruising to a win. Then Owen Tippett snuck a laser through with just over eight minutes left, followed by Tyson Foerster jamming a loose puck home not even a couple of minutes later – and after he had just gone off for repairs from getting clipped against the boards – to give the Flyers a late spark.
They just ran out of time, losing 3-2 after pushing through the final seconds with an empty net and an extra attacker.
Aleksei Kolosov saved 26 of 29 shots and looked mostly solid in goal, Travis Sanheim ate up monster defensive minutes again (a new career-high 31:07 of ice time), and Helge Grans made his NHL debut following his call-up from Lehigh Valley, but the Flyers dropped to 8-9-1, though at the start of a four-game homestand to settle in with and as a group that, right now, isn't leaving themselves out of any contest.
They just have to clean themselves up a bit.
"A lot of the game I liked as we kept on going, but G** damn, we do stupid stuff," head coach John Tortorella said postgame. "It's so aggravating. The stuff that we do that should be out of our game, that's what aggravates me."
Not done yet. #COLvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ZQYX2UYcGX
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 19, 2024
The first period had the Flyers on their heels and depending on their defensive structure to survive.
Colorado's top two lines centered by Nathan MacKinnon and Mittelstadt had the cycle locked down, and at one point early on, on a shift that trapped the Flyers' skaters in their own zone for more than two minutes – Sanheim alone got stuck on a shift for 2:52.
They didn't give the Avalanche an angle though, or at least a good enough one. Sanheim stepped in the way of a shot after what felt like endless cycling of the puck and chipped it out over center to finally get himself and his exhausted teammates off the ice for fresh legs.
But that didn't keep them out of the clear.
Sanheim got in the way of another Avalanche shot approaching the midway point of the frame, a prime cross-crease opportunity from MacKinnon to Jonathan Drouin, that took an open look at the net away and bailed goaltender Aleksi Kolosov out.
Still, the Avalanche had set up camp, and were making themselves hard to clear out, especially when MacKinnon's line and Cale Makar's defensive pairing were both out there at once.
For the period, the Flyers blocked 11 shots and Sanheim, who has been the anchor point for the entire Philadelphia blue line of late, skated over 10 minutes of ice time.
The Flyers did find a way to some chances as time wore on.
Bobby Brink swept at the puck along the offensive half wall and stripped it way, managing a pass through to Joel Farabee crashing in, who was able to fight off Colorado defenseman Sam Malinski and make an attempt at a move trying to tuck the puck past goaltender Justus Annuen on the backhand. Annuen had his pad out and the space covered up though.
Grans also got a clean shot on the net after Mikko Rantanen went off for a slash of Sanheim and Tyson Foerster went to the box for a high stick on Devon Toews to make for a 4-on-4.
The debuting defenseman recovered the puck in the Flyers' own corner and then peered to see Matvei Michkov back-skating toward the blue line and into the natural zone. Grans threw the pass along the wall and Michkov recovered it to take off, pulling up at the opposite blue line to send it back to Grans streaking in with a direct line of sight from the slot.
He put the shot straight into Annuen's pads for a stoppage, and though the Flyers established a good cycle of their own on a power play late into the first, they couldn't convert.
"That gives a bit of confidence," Grans said of his immediate scoring chance. "Just gotta bear down on them and score."
Coming back for the second, and shorthanded from a Garnet Hathaway interference call, Makar's stick broke on a shot attempt from the point and Scott Laughton and Tyson Foerster turned it around for an odd-man rush the other way. Laughton's pass, however, couldn't settle and Foerster flubbed it wide when it reached his stick blade to leave the game scoreless.
Tyson Foerster can't finish on a shorthanded 2 on 1. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/CPKxKlAs80
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) November 19, 2024
Don't let Cale Makar get hot 🔥#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/UDkr2UNGmY
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 19, 2024
"That first goal was my fault," Konecny said from the Flyers' locker room postgame. "It's a bad read, I'm puck watching, and then, you know, it's frustrating when you look at the end of the game and it's a one-goal game."
"It's dumb," Tortorella said. "Just left the best player in the world to go chase the puck. If we're going to get over the hump, that can't happen, not from a guy that we're depending on."
After another puck with eyes from Makar got disallowed for goaltender interference, the defenseman set up at the point on an Avs power play late into the second (for a Michkov hold), and with plenty of time and space up top, flung another shot through that bounced off Nick Seeler to make its way past Kolosov.Karma is Cale Makar scoring another goal 🎶#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/H59vCmZ87R
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 19, 2024
Doing the work in front of the net 👏#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/aC8S2tDqk4
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 19, 2024
That looked like it was it for the Flyers until Tippett woke up the building to begin the late push.
Tipper gets us right back in it. 💪#COLvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/d1Sfeni3PQ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 19, 2024
They just put themselves too far behind and ran out of time.
• Veteran defenseman Erik Johnson, who played in his 1,000th NHL game on Saturday night against the Sabres, got recognized for the career milestone with a pregame ceremony and the presentation of his silver stick. Johnson's family was on hand for the ceremony, and so were Flyers general manager Danny Brière, president of hockey ops Keith Jones, and former Avalanche teammate and captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has long been sidelined with injury but made the trip out to Philly for the occasion.
Gabriel Landeskog joined Erik Johnson on the ice in Philly to celebrate his 1,000 NHL games! 💙
— NHL (@NHL) November 19, 2024
📺: @NHLNetwork pic.twitter.com/iG897a7Ypk
• Colorado defenseman Josh Manson collided with referee Mitch Dunning while trying to skate down and cover the offensive blue line during the first period, which spun out Dunning and left him down on the ice. He was quickly seen to by both Flyers and Avalanche medical staff and needed to be stretchered off the ice.
Per the NHL, Dunning was taken to a local hospital out of precaution, but was communicative and could move all his extremities.
Referee Mitch Dunning has been taken to hospital for precautionary reasons following a collision in the @Avalanche / @NHLFlyers game. All neurological signs are normal, he is fully communicative and can move all his extremities.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 19, 2024
The Flyers will be back up Wednesday night against Carolina.
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