Cale Makar beat Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov three times but only two were counted in the 3-2 Avalanche victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
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Makar scored his first with a wrister right down the lane at 11:30 of the middle frame. His second was another similar blast straight up the middle but was waived off for goalie interference on Jonathan Drouin. His third — that stood — came 11:48 into the second.
Casey Mittelstadt grabbed Mikko Rantanen’s shot rebound to flip it past Kolosov and make it a 3-0 game eight and a half minutes into the third. His game-winner earned him the Player of the Game big hat.
“Overall I thought it was a good road win and good way to start off the road trip … it was a good team effort,” Mittelstadt said.
The Flyers put the pressure on in the third to come back and score two goals within two minutes. Owen Tippett beat Justus Annunen top shelf with a shot that the Avs goalie probably wants back. Tyson Foerster poked the loose puck from underneath Annunen to the back of the net at 6:28.
Annunen stopped 24 of 26 shots and redeemed himself after a terrible start against the Washington Capitals. Bednar said he liked the 24-year-old’s game which should help the young goaltender’s confidence.
Good: Avalanche Start
The Avalanche needed a good start and they had one, even though it was a scoreless first period. The team peppered the Philadelphia Flyers with shots — 10 on goal and 11 blocked. The Avs’ energy was high right out of the gate after a lengthy tribute to former Avs defenseman Erik Johnson for his 1,000th game (played Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres).
“I really liked our game tonight for 52 minutes …,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought our start was great.”
Good: Makar, Avs Defense
Makar had the highest number of shots on goal with five and drove the bus in his 27:04 of ice time. He also had three blocked shots and played an outstanding all-around game.
“We played our game most of the night … This was our game to win and we had to grind it out here in the end,” Makar said after the game.
Sam Girard also blocked three shots and Sam Malinksi made some key plays to defend and keep the Avalanche in the game.
“I feel like my last game was not the way I wanted to play defensively so I tried to come out strong today,” Girard said.
Bad: End of the Game
Annunen played solid through the first two periods and most of the third but gave up a soft goal to Tippett. The second goal came from his unawareness of where the puck was which was just an unfortunate situation.
The team as a whole got pressured by the Flyers which put them on their heels for the last half of the third. The Avs outshot the Flyers in the first two periods but Philly kicked into high gear in the third and outshot Colorado by three.
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