Cale Makar Leads Avalanche to 3-2 Win Over Flyers – The Hockey Writers NHL News Latest News, Analysis & More

The Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers were both happy to leave the month of October in the past. The Flyers struggled mightily to gel as a team to start this season, while the Avalanche became so shorthanded they had to play defenseman Oliver Kylington at forward.

November has treated both teams better so far, with the Flyers entering Monday 4-0-1 in their last five games and the Avalanche having largely returned to full strength. At that level, Colorado has more talent than just about any team in the league, especially a Flyers team that is still rebuilding. The Avs flexed their might at the Wells Fargo Center, with Cale Makar unsurprisingly leading the way in a 3-2 victory.

Game Recap

The Avalanche came out flying, dominating puck possession in the early moments. But the excitement of the game was suspended when Josh Manson inadvertently collided with referee Mitch Dunning at the Philadelphia blue line. Dunning remained on the ice for an extended period and was taken off on a stretcher. Dunning was taken to a hospital for evaluation and seems to have avoided a serious long-term scare.

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

Colorado continued to control the play after the action returned and seemed poised to take the lead eight minutes in on a backdoor pass from Nathan MacKinnon to Casey Mittelstadt. However, Travis Sanheim saved the day, blocking Mittelstadt’s shot to prevent it from entering the wide-open net. The Flyers showed some life in response, even earning the game’s first power play, which lasted 14 seconds before they took a penalty of their own. Colorado was the quicker team throughout the first, but the Flyers began to generate offense. The first period felt like a track meet but ended without a goal.

The Flyers had a couple of opportunities to strike shorthanded in the second period but couldn’t take advantage. Eventually, Colorado’s talent gap put them in front, with Makar beating Aleksei Kolosov from the slot almost halfway through to start the scoring. He appeared to double up 2:15 later in identical fashion, but the goal was called back as Jonathan Drouin contacted Kolosov. Rasmus Ristolainen’s shove may have caused the brunt of it, but because Drouin entered the crease by himself before the push (and Kolosov appeared to move into him before Ristolainen’s actions), the goal was called back.

But the Avs kept pressing. Eventually, Makar provided that second goal, floating a wrist shot that deflected in off a Flyer penalty killer. His dominance combined with strong work from Justus Annunen in goal carried Colorado to a 2-0 edge at the end of the second period.

Colorado started the third period strong but gifted the Flyers an opportunity to get back in the game when MacKinnon received four minutes in penalties — two for tripping Matvei Michkov and another two for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the Flyers struggled to generate chances and took a penalty of their own halfway through the would-be four-minute power play. Another Philadelphia penalty gave Colorado a 4-on-3, and Mittelstadt punched in a rebound goal.

That goal seemed to put the game out of reach. However, Owen Tippett broke the shutout with eight minutes left, and moments later, Tyson Foerster jammed in a puck sitting underneath Annunen’s pad that he never fully covered to restore life to the Wells Fargo Center. The comeback was not meant to be, as Annunen and company held down the fort to win for the fourth time in their last five games.

For the second straight game, the Flyers lost a defenseman to injury in the third period. On Saturday, that was Emil Andrae, who missed Monday’s game with a mid-body injury, leading to Helge Grans’ NHL debut. Grans played well, earning his first NHL point by kickstarting the sequence leading to Foerster’s goal.

Monday night, it was Egor Zamula. The Flyers were already down three defensemen before Zamula left, although Cam York seems close to returning. Zamula briefly returned to the Flyers bench only to go back down the tunnel.