York a bright spot, but Flyers lose to Avalanche, stay winless on road trip originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers’ road trip didn’t get any better Tuesday night as the club fell to the Avalanche, 3-2, at Ball Arena in Denver.
The Flyers (9-14-7) dropped to 0-1-2 on their four-game road swing and haven’t won away from home since Nov. 5.
John Tortorella’s club has gone 2-11-5 over its last 18 games, a stretch in which it has been outscored 69-39.
Cam York had the team’s lone goal Tuesday night until James van Riemsdyk scored one with 3:38 minutes left and the Flyers at 6-on-5.
J.T. Compher’s goal that cushioned Colorado’s lead to 3-1 in the third period turned out to be the game-winner.
Tony DeAngelo hasn’t played on the Flyers’ trip. He was a healthy scratch last Friday and has been unavailable the past two games for a family matter.
The Flyers were also missing Zack MacEwen, who was banged up Sunday night during the third period of the team’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Coyotes.
The Flyers went 1-1-0 against the defending champion Avalanche (15-10-2) this season.
Because of injuries, Colorado is missing key pieces, including star center Nathan MacKinnon (upper body) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee).
• The Flyers were 13-12-5 through 30 games last season. They then lost 13 straight and finished 25-46-11 overall.
General manager Chuck Fletcher said his team would be more competitive this season. Right now, it has regressed from a record standpoint. We’ll see if the Flyers can show improvement unlike last year, when the season fell off a cliff.
The 2022-23 club has taken positive strides defensively but scoring has been a glaring problem. The Flyers have scored two or fewer goals 17 times through 30 games. The effort is there, they’re in a lot of games, but the talent gap is clear.
• The Avalanche pretty much dominated the second period to swing the game in their favor.
Colorado knotted things up at 1-1 off the rush as Devon Toews finished in front. It took the lead about five and half minutes later with a shorthanded goal from Artturi Lehkonen.
The Flyers’ power play wasn’t helped by an unfriendly bounce. As the Avalanche cleared the puck, it shot off of the side boards toward the middle of the ice. Lehkonen pounced on the puck and beat Felix Sandstrom to hand Colorado a 2-1 edge at second intermission.
The Flyers didn’t get their first shot of the middle frame until 12-plus minutes had passed. They were outshot 9-4 in the period.
The power play went 0 for 2 on the night.
• Sandstrom saw his first game action in 17 days. The 25-year-old didn’t show rust, made 22 saves on 25 shots and gave the Flyers a good chance to win.
Avalanche backup Pavel Francouz stopped 26 of the Flyers’ 28 shots.
• Highlight-reel stuff from York gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at first intermission.
The 21-year-old defenseman danced around Dryden Hunt near the blue line and followed up his own shot to score his first goal of the season.
It was a great example of making things happen for a team that desperately needs players to make things happen offensively.
Through three outings, York has a goal and plus-3 mark in 21-plus minutes per game. Strong start to his case to stay with the big club.
• On the heels of a four-point outburst, Morgan Frost won the faceoff that led to York’s goal. He finished as a minus-2 with one shot in 16:36 minutes.
• The road trip wraps up Thursday when the Flyers visit the Devils (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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