PHILADELPHIA – As measuring stick games go for the Flyers, this one came up about a few inches short.
Challenging the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche on a Sunday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the Flyers wanted to show everyone they could skate with the elite in the sport.
And that they did but still couldn’t quite get the job done in a 3-2 loss.
The Flyers knew Colorado had been facing some resistance on this trip to the East Coast. The Islanders handed the Avalanche just a second regulation-time defeat this season the other night and the Rangers had taken the outcome to overtime on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Flyers have a league-leading 11 comeback wins so there was still hope going into the late stages of the game.
Goaltender Sam Ersson did his best to keep the Flyers in this one but it wasn’t quite enough as the Flyers fell to 1-2 on the current six-game homestand.
So, how did the Flyers measure up? The fact they gave the top points team all it could handle provide any consolation?
“We believed in our chances to win this game,” Sean Couturier said in the post-game locker room. “It felt at times maybe we gave them a little too much respect. We watched them a little bit. Overall, we competed hard. We were right there until the end.”
Emil Andrae agreed with the assessment the Flyers might have been a little much in awe of the Avalanche, who began the road trip an amazing 20-1-6.
“They obviously have good hockey players on the other side,” Andrae sid. “We play our best when we’re on our toes, getting forward, being aggressive, getting into their faces. But they kept coming at us and maybe we were backing up a little too much, giving them too much space, getting on our heels.”
Down 2-1 after one period, the Flyers fell behind by a pair before putting some offense together.
Colorado raised its edge to 3-1 at 1:47 of the second on a goal by Valeri Nichushkin. He found some space in the right circle and his wide-angle shot eluded Ersson.
The Flyers finally started getting some shots on net after putting only three on Mackenzie Blackwood in the first period.
They finally broke through at 5:58. Emil Andrae’s long clearing pass through the neutral zone caught Travis Konecny in stride down the right side. Konecny sent a shot past Blackwood for his seventh goal of the season.
A questionable tripping call on Flyer defenseman Noah Juulsen led to Colorado’s second goal late in the first period.
The Colorado power play, ranked only 26th in the NHL, connected with 52 seconds left in the frame. Nathan MacKinnon took a poke at a loose puck in the crease and ex-Islander Brock Nelson finished off the play.
Philadelphia got on the board first courtesy of a Couturier goal just 2:09 into the game. Couturier, playing in his 900th NHL game (fourth all-time on the Flyers) and on his 33rd birthday, saw Juulsen’s point shot carom off his leg past Blackwood.
The Avalanche tied the score at 8:28 on a goal by ageless defenseman Brent Burns. The Colorado veteran, now 40 years old, connected on a shot from just above the right hash marks.
Ersson liked the overall effort.
“I thought we played a pretty decent game,” he said. “As the game went along we grew into it, got better and better. We definitely gave it a fair shot. We wanted the win but there were some good things that will kind of stay with us as well.”
The Flyers outshot the Avalanche by a 14-3 margin in the third period. Clearly, Colorado was tiring and the Flyers were gaining momentum. They just ran out of time.
“I thought it was our best period, we made a good push,” Christian Dvorak said. “We had our looks. If we played like that the whole game, we probably would have come out with two points.”
Coach Rick Tocchet saw some bright spots but there are still some areas which require improvement and this was a good classroom to demontrate those needs.
“It’s just making plays under pressure,” Tocchet said. “There are situations where we can learn from it.”
Told of Couturier’s comments about possibly giving Colorado too much respect, Tocchet expanded on those thoughts.
“Be aggressive, like on your play,” Tocchet said. “They had three shots in the third period, we had 14. We played a pretty good game. A lot of guys trying hard. Just have to tighten up the turnovers (although the Flyers had only 16 official giveaways). We just need to have some players make some plays under pressure.”
>Short shots
Trevor Zegras was awarded a penalty shot on a clean breakaway early in the third period but his shot was denied by Blackwood.
Defenseman Cam York (upper-body injury) was a scratch and Juulsen paired up with Egor Zamula on the third unit. . .The Flyers return to action Tuesday night for the fourth game of this six-game homestand when they face the San Jose Sharks. . . Nick Seeler played in his 400th NHL game.
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