Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

WOOOOOO!

After Sam Ersson made 17 first period saves, the Philadelphia Flyers escaped the first period with a 2-0 lead, and despite a back-and-forth second that saw the Colorado Avalanche tie the game twice, Owen Tippett took over in the third period, scoring 56 seconds in to put the Orange & Black back on top, and then, net a short-handed breakaway goal after picking off Cale Makar’s cross-ice bid to complete his second career hat trick and bookend Matvei Michkov’s 11th of the season to give the Flyers an unlikely 6-3 lead.

Ersson was the star in the first, and the offense, namely Michkov and Denver Barkey, took over after that. The barrage of penalties was once again an issue, and Nathan MacKinnon certainly had his say in the contest, but it was Philadelphia who came away with two points, handing the Avs only their second regulation loss at home this season.

Michkov added an empty-netter after several laughable misses on the yawning cage by Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny to put the good guys up 7-3 and I can’t believe what I just saw.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? WOOOOO!

First period

Highlight: SAM F’N ERSSON! Wow. The Flyers’ backup goaltender has been mostly bad, if not worse, for most of this season but he came up huge in the firsthalf of the first period. Travis Konecny hooked Nathan MacKinnon in the first 45 seconds and Ersson made two or three huge saves, and five on the penalty kill overall, with Noah Cates getting called for a weak interference in a couple minutes later, and Sam was awesome. But he capped it with an incredible even-strength glove save to rob Gavin Brindley in the slot as the Flyers were scrambling and the Avalanche were piling up shots and chances. Ten minutes into the game, shots are 11-2, and Ersson has stopped all 11. I know Ersson hasn’t really helped the cause much this year, but his teammates owe him for withstanding the early bombardment. After the Flyers went up 1-0, Ersson made his 15th save of the period with 3:33 left, another beautiful glove stop on a Brock Nelson one-timer from a high-danger area. Shots are 17-7 are the first, Owen Tippett and Denver Barkey (on the power play, from Matvei Michkov) scored to put the Flyers up 2-0. Still, Ersson’s 17 saves, a single-period career high, were very much the story.

What I want to see next period: Have the puck and hit the freakin’ net. I know it says above that shots were 11-2 at one point, but we got a mid-period rescore and as I’m writing this at a stoppage with 5:27 left in the period, Philly is being outshot 12-1, and have been credited with four misses, including an egregious Christian Dvorak post on scoring chance with a wide open net. The Flyers have to figure out how to counteract Colorado’s speed. Unofficially, chances are 7-4 right now (aaccording to JJ), and if the Orange & Black are going to have a chance, they have to convert the few chances they’ll get. AND JUST LIKE THAT TIPPETT SCORES! His first attempt on a 3-on-2 was blocked but he recollected and fired a wrister by Mackenzie Blackwood for his 16th of the year. KEEP IT UP! Initially it looked like Sean Couturier may have been offside, but he appeared to JUST stay on and Jared Bednar did not challenge.

Second period

Highlight: THE ANSWER! Bobby Brink put the Flyers back up 3-2 just thirty-two seconds after Colorado tied the game. Nice, hard-working shift to get the puck in front and Brink eventually popped it top-shelf with both he and Cates battling in front after Michkov took advantage of a offensive zone turnover by the Avs to get the initial rush started. Unfortunately, Colorado re-tied the game 1:11 later on a Cale Makar snipe. We saw four total goals in a five minute mid-period stretch to make it 3-3 with under eight minutes to go in the second. I’m sweating.

What I want to see next period: Stop turning it over! Two or three turnovers in a row led to Colorado’s first goal, with Dvorak and Travis Konecny to blame on the 2-1 goal. Garnet Hathaway had a ridiculous one, playing a puck off the boards straight into the slot on an attempted break out pass but somehow Nelson missed the net on a prime chance. On the game-tying goal, MacKinnon wrapped a pass behind him to a cutting Victor Olofsson who ripped a shot through traffic to beat Ersson. The failed clears and dangerous passes against a team with this sort of fire power are unacceptable. And how about we pull off this miracle upset? It’s 3-3 with 20 minutes to go. LET’S GOOOOO!

Third period

Highlight: Tippett and Michkov put the Flyers up 5-3 in the first two minutes of the period! What a start! The FlyGuys came out aggressive and registered the first five shots of the period en route to re-establishing a two-goal lead. Tippett has been Philly’s best player for several weeks and is on fire tonight. Michkov appears to be building But then the march to the penalty box began again, with Emil Andrae and Barkey each taking stick penalties in the middle of the frame, forcing Ersson and the PK to protect the lead and they didn’t just do that, but OWEN TIPPETT FINISHED OFF THE HAT TRICK WITH A SHORT-HANDED BREAKAWAY GOAL! Tippett broke up Makar cross-ice attempt and took it the whole way, beating Blackwood five-hole. Holy hell! DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!

Final note: WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame