On the second game of a back to back, the Avs found more legs to get another game in the win column to win 3-2 over the Philadelphia Flyers, their third game in four days.
The first period, the Avalanche dominated, holding the Flyers to just three shots on net.
The bad news: Philly scored off one of those shots, thanks to a Sean Couturier deflection.
The good news: The Avs scored two goal to offset it and win the period. Brent Burns gets a long shot clean through Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson. Brock Nelson gets the second one, a gritty whack on the power play to not only get the power play on the board, but to give the Avs the lead heading into the second period.
The second, Valeri Nichushkin is the hero with a rip from the right faceoff dot, courtesy of a beautiful cross-ice pass from Devon Toews. The Avs hold the two-goal lead for a few minutes, but Travis Konecny catches a few guys out of position, including Mackenzie Blackwood, to bring it back within one.
The third period saw the Avs draw into their usual back half of a back-to-back sloppiness. Trevor Zegras draws a penalty on a breakaway and earns himself a penalty shot, but Blackwood stood tall. With much sloppiness to follow from the Avs, they hold steady when Ersson gets pulled for the 6-on-5, and earn the 3-2 win.
Power play = good (for now)
Everyone, you can take a deep breath. The power play has converted!
It was messy, sure, but from the jump on their first power play, they looked dangerous. They were moving, they were getting pucks on net, and with a good chance from Nathan MacKinnon that rebounds off Samuel Ersson, Brock Nelson whacks at it and it finds the netting.
The power play has been a recurring issue that could be very close to becoming a deciding factor in future games if the Avs can’t find some sort of rhythm for consistency. Being 26th across the league in the man-advantage for a team that’s been dominantly good in almost every other facet of the game seems unacceptable.
But it worked tonight, somehow, so I’m taking that as a win.
The last back-to-back of 2025
And after you’ve possibly taken your deep breath for the power play, everyone can sigh in relief. The Colorado Avalanche are done with back-to-backs for the year!
In the last month and a half, the Avs have endured five back-to-back series’ in their schedule. In two of those back-to-backs, the Avs came away with only one win. The other three, including this one, the Avs swept.
Earning four out of four points in three series’ is impressive for a team that notoriously loses their legs in the last of two consecutive games.
Not just that, but the Avs looked really dominant in the first two periods of this game, so to only concede one bad period is a heavy win for this team.