Eurolanche

Flyers hang on to edge Avalanche

Claude Giroux scored two power-play goals and Jakub Voracek had three assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.

Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn each scored a goal for the Flyers, who have won three in a row. Goaltender Steve Mason made 36 saves, including 18 in the third period, when the Avalanche scored three unanswered goals to make it a one-goal game.

The Flyers scored three power-play goals on six attempts. It was the first time they scored three extra-man goals since Dec. 28, 2013, against the Edmonton Oilers. Philadelphia had been 0-for-12 on the power play in their previous five games.

Colorado had allowed five power-play goals all season entering the game. After killing off 30 of 31 penalties over their past eight games entering Saturday, the Avalanche were second in the NHL on the penalty kill at 91.7 percent.

Voracek, who entered the game tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby for the League scoring lead, extended his scoring streak to eight games. It also was his seventh multipoint game in 14 games this season; he had 16 multipoint games in 82 games last season.

The news wasn't all good for the Flyers. Defenseman Luke Schenn left the game because of an upper-body injury sustained on a hit from behind by Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon in the final minute of the first period.

Maxime Talbot had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tanguay and Zach Redmond scored for the Avalanche. Goaltender Reto Berra allowed four goals on 27 shots.

The Flyers lead 4-0 after two periods but the Avalanche made it close with three goals on 21 shots in the third period.

Redmond's goal with 8:22 remaining in the third got the Avalanche within 4-3. Talbot knocked Umberger off the puck along the wall on the left side of the Philadelphia zone and threw the puck into the middle to a cutting Redmond. The Colorado defenseman slammed on the breaks between the circles to spin Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto out of position and beat Mason with a wrist shot for his first of the season.

Tanguay got the Avalanche within 4-2 at 6:46 of the third period with his sixth goal. A short pass by Dennis Everberg at center ice sent Tyson Barrie and Tanguay in on a 2-on-1. Barrie slid the puck to Tanguay, who waited until he was at the dot in the right circle and sent a wrist shot to the far side past Mason's glove.

Talbot's first goal of the season got the Avalanche on the board. Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann turned the puck over in the Philadelphia end under pressure. Talbot stepped into a loose puck in the left circle and shot it past Mason, inside the right post, at 2:29 of the third. The goal was Talbot's first in 28 games, dating to March 18.

Giroux's second power-play goal of the game pushed the Flyers' lead to 4-0 at 16:22 of the second period. With Philadelphia skating on a 5-on-3 advantage, Vincent Lecavalier got the puck alone in the right circle. He faked a shot that drew Berra far out of the net and instead threaded a cross-ice pass to Giroux on the left side, and the Philadelphia captain scored into an empty net.

It was Giroux's first multigoal game of the season, his first two-goal game since April 8.

The Flyers made it 3-0 at 11:24 of the second on Brayden Schenn's fourth goal. Nick Schultz made a nice play at the Colorado blue line to hold the puck in the zone and get a shot on net. Matt Read tipped it, but Berra stopped that and made a nice sprawling pad save to stop Read on the rebound. Read stayed with the puck after it bounced off the back boards and threw it in front, where Schenn scored.

The Flyers used a five-minute power play to score the game's first two goals.

The lengthy man advantage came on MacKinnon's boarding penalty against Luke Schenn with 53 seconds left in the first period.

Schenn was skating back into the Philadelphia zone to retrieve a puck when he was pushed from behind by MacKinnon and fell into the boards, appearing to hit his left shoulder and head into the end boards. He did not return to the game.

Giroux started the run with a goal with 2.9 seconds remaining in the period. Wayne Simmonds got the puck behind the Colorado net and passed it to Giroux on the left side. With time and space in the left circle to create, Giroux was able to pick his spot, and with a perfect Simmonds screen beat Berra to the far side past his glove.

With carryover power-play time in the second period, Simmonds made it 2-0 on a goal at 2:48 of the period. Giroux spotted Simmonds below the goal line on the left side of the Avalanche zone. Simmonds gathered the puck, stepped in front and beat Berra from in close for his seventh goal.

-- by Adam Kimelman for NHL.com --

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