Philly Sports Jabronis
Report From Philadelphia Flyers
* The Flyers scored two power play goals, snapping a streak of no goals in 15 opportunities that had spanned the previous six games.
* Claude Giroux scored on one of his three shots on goal, but had an additional eight that didn’t reach the net – five were blocked and three missed.
* Andrew MacDonald was credited with five blocks.
* The Flyers continue their road trip on Friday night when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes (7pm, CSN, 93.3 WMMR).
GAME RECAP
DENVER — Ryan O’Reilly is hoping to be more productive in the new year after scoring with 19.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
The goal was the first game-winner of the season for O’Reilly, who had a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14 and won the Lady Byng Trophy.
“Scoring a goal and contributing to a win is something I’ve been missing a lot lately, so definitely to have that is a relief and something I’ve got to continue to bring,” he said.
O’Reilly was deep on the right side when he took a return pass from Tyson Barrie and beat goalie Steve Mason, who was screened by Alex Tanguay, to the short side for his seventh goal.
“I tried to get it on net, and it was nice to get that bounce,” O’Reilly said. “I didn’t see if [Mason] got a piece of it. I just know it hit the post and went in.”
The Avalanche (14-15-8) ended a two-game losing streak. The Flyers (14-16-7) have lost three in a row and are 3-2-1 in the first six of an eight-game road trip.
“We were going against a team with the same record, same position in the standings, and desperate too,” said Avalanche right wing Jarome Iginla, whose power-play goal tied the game 3-3 at 12:48 of the third period. “To pull that out, especially with a late tying goal, it’s a chance to use that as momentum going forward.”
Iginla was in the lower part of the left circle when he accepted a pass from Nick Holden and put a one-timer by Mason’s glove.
“I think Mason was a little committed to Holden shooting,” Iginla said. “He gave it over to me, and Mason’s down and I’m trying to get it over his glove, and I was pretty excited that turned out to be the case.”
Mason, who had 29 saves, said he should have made the save.
“Goalies are a big part of the penalty kill, and I’ve got to find a way to make a save on Iginla,” he said. “He kind of fanned on it, threw my timing off, but I’ve got to make a save on it.”
Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn was in the penalty box for tripping Tanguay at the time.
“What do you want me to say?” Flyers coach Craig Berube said. “It’s not a good penalty. I thought we played a pretty good game. We’re playing pretty good hockey. We’re finding ways to lose games. I thought we had the better of the play.”
Claude Giroux‘s power-play goal at 10:00 of the third had given the Flyers a 3-2 lead. Mark Streit left the puck for Giroux, who used his speed to weave into the Avalanche end. Giroux skated between defensemen Jan Hejda and Erik Johnson before moving in alone on goalie Semyon Varlamov.
“Giroux showed why he’s one of the top goal-scorers in the League,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “Against a team like this, you can’t take bad penalties, and we took a couple bad ones tonight.”
The Flyers tied the game 2-2 at 2:52 of the third on a goal by Vincent Lecavalier. Coburn passed to Lecavalier at the right point for a one-timer that beat Varlamov, who was screened by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Lecavalier has scored four of his six goals this season in the past five games.
“It’s disappointing because we’re six minutes from grabbing two points,” said Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek, who scored a first-period power-play goal at 10:14. “Just a couple of mistakes and it cost us the game. I don’t know how it looked from upstairs, but we were the better team.”
Defenseman Nate Guenin and rookie right wing Borna Rendulic each scored his first goal of the season 3:30 apart in the second period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead.
Guenin tied the game 1-1 at 10:47 when he took a shot just inside the blue line near the left-wing boards that made its way through several bodies and past Mason. Guenin’s previous goal came Feb. 28 against the Arizona Coyotes. He has four goals in 131 NHL games.
The goal was the first for the Avalanche in 111:53. Colorado hadn’t scored since Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks when Johnson put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 8:53 of the first period in an eventual 5-2 loss.
Rendulic’s goal was his first in four NHL games. It came at 14:17 off a pass from Gabriel Landeskog. Rendulic was just above the right hash marks when he shot the puck by Mason’s blocker.
Rendulic was recalled Tuesday from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League. He began the game on the fourth line, but was moved to a line with Landeskog and O’Reilly in the second period.
“We had the puck in their zone for one minute or so, and I was so tired,” said Rendulic, who became the first Croatian-born player to score in the NHL. “I knew I had to find open space, and [Landeskog] gave it to me. I just tried to put it on the net, and it went in.”
The Flyers were in an 0-for-15 slump on power plays covering six games before Voracek scored in the first period. Voracek, who leads the NHL in scoring with 47 points, didn’t have a point in his previous two games, his longest stretch without one this season.
Philadelphia defenseman Michael Del Zotto sustained a cut on his neck in a collision with Colorado’s Daniel Briere on his first shift at 1:30 of the first period. Del Zotto was cut by Briere’s skate and missed the rest of the period.
“Unfortunately, I’ve taken a few skates before, so I kind of knew the feeling,” said Del Zotto, who returned in the second period. “I felt it and I saw the blood, so I kind of just skated off. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve taken a few skates. I was pretty fortunate it wasn’t worse than it was.”
