5 Observations: For Flyers, Another Tight Loss; York Excels

Eight nights after the Philadelphia Flyers scored a home win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche, Colorado returned the favor.

Getting goals Tuesday from Devon Toews, Artturi Lehkonen, and J.T. Compher, the Avalanche outlasted the Flyers, 3-2, at Ball Arena.

Colorado (15-10-2) avenged a 5-3 loss on Dec. 5. The Flyers (9-14-7) lost for the 16th time in their last 18 games. They have dropped four in a row, all by one goal if you exclude empty-netters.

With their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, James van Riemsdyk scored on a deflection of Travis Konecny’s shot, getting the Flyers within 3-2 with 3:38 left.

They applied pressure the rest of the game, but couldn’t get the equalizer.

Here are five quick observations:

1. The Flyers’ offense woke up midway through the third period.

After getting little attack time in the first 50 minutes, the Philadelphia Flyers came alive.

Philly had its best offensive flurry of the night in the middle of the third. But Avs backup goalie Pavel Francouz made important stops on Lukas Sedlak, Ivan Provorov, Noah Cates, Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim (twice).

The Flyers swarmed the net after pulling their goalie, but Colorado hung on for the win.

The Avs had taken a 3-1 lead with 8:27 left in regulation as Compher (two points) scored from out front.

The Flyers had a 16-6 shots domination in the third period.

2. Who was that masked man in the Flyers’ nets?

Remember Felix Sandstrom? Backup goalie. Seems to always keep the Flyers in games.

Sandstrom made his first appearance since Nov. 26. Carter Hart started the previous seven games.

The Sweden native played solidly as he stopped 22 of 25 shots. He denied Mikko Rantanen four times, including a ticketed drive from the left circle early in the second period.

“Sandy was great; he kept us in it,” winger Kevin Hayes said.

3. The second period was the Flyers’ undoing.

Colorado had the first eight shots of he second, including a goal from Devon Toews, a defenseman who took a slick pass from Compher and finished off an odd-man rush. Toews’ second goal of the season tied it at 1-all with 10:35 remaining in the second.

“In the second period, we iced the puck a lot, and in the first 10, 12 minutes, we were in our end,” coach John Tortorella said.

About six minutes after Toews’ goal, Colorado took a 2-1 lead as Lehkonen scored on a shorthanded breakaway.

Lehkonen picked up the puck after it took a strange bounce off the glass and skated ahead of the pack. He put the shot through Sandstrom’s legs. The first two Colorado goals went five-hole.

The Philadelphia Flyers were outshot in the second, 9-4, and it took them 12:08 to get their initial shot in the period.

CAM I AM. #FueledByPhilly | @camyork2 pic.twitter.com/9CJSdTVF9i

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 14, 2022

4. Cam York looks like he belongs.

After spending a couple of productive months with the Phantoms, York has played extremely well in three games with the Flyers. He has played with more pace and more aggressiveness than in the preseason.

In Tuesday’s opening period, the 21-year-old defenseman made a slick move to shake free from Dryden Hunt at the point and get off a shot. He then scored on the rebound with 7:08 left in the first. That gave the Flyers a rare 1-0 lead.

“I feel good; my confidence is high,” said York, who had four hits in the loss.

Morgan Frost won a faceoff to put the goal-scoring sequence in motion. The Flyers entered the night just 30th in the NHL in faceoffs (44.5%), but they won 55% of the first-period draws against Colorado, which is 31st in the NHL in that department.

York was named the game’s No. 3 star.

5. The power play struggled.

The Flyers were 0 for 2 on the power play, and they allowed a shorthanded goal that turned out to be the difference.

“Our power play let us down,” Hayes said.

On the flip side, Philly’s penalty kill was 3 for 3.

Breakaways

Colorado was missing eight injured regulars — two more than the Flyers. … Van Riemsdyk flipped a shot over the net on a breakaways early in the second period. … Max Willman replaced injured winger Zack MacEwen in the Flyers’ lineup. … Tony DeAngelo missed another game because of a personal matter. … The Flyers will end their four-game road trip Thursday in New Jersey.