Flyers Crushed by ‘Stupid Stuff’, Cale Makar Takes Over in Helge Grans NHL Debut

Even in the face of a significant number of injuries, the Philadelphia Flyers kept things close, falling 3-2 to Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.

The Flyers started off the first period tentatively but got rolling as time wore on. Aleksei Kolosov, playing in his first NHL game since Nov. 5, stopped all 10 Avalanche shots, including strong chances from Makar and Josh Manson at the right circle.

Makar, making use of his elite skating and blistering shot, busted the game open for the Avalanche in the second period.

Falling away from his momentum, Makar roped a shot over Kolosov’s glove from the high slot to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Then, after having a second goal disallowed, Makar picked up a power play marker thanks to some heavy deflections in traffic.

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The long-range shot, which was twice blocked, dribbled through the legs of the unsuspecting Kolosov, who had no idea what happened to the puck.

“That first goal was my fault, bad read,” forward Travis Konecny said of Makar after the game. “That’s what makes him so good, does it every night.”

Head coach John Tortorella was not particularly pleased with Konecny on that first goal, either.

“Yeah, it’s dumb,” Tortorella said sternly. “Just left the best player in the world to go chase the puck.”

As for the rest of the game?

“A lot of the game I liked as we kept going, but goddamn we do some stupid stuff. It’s so aggravating”

Helge Grans makes NHL debut for Flyers

Helge Grans made his NHL debut for the Flyers on Monday night, starting off next to Egor Zamula on the third defense pair.

The 22-year-old did well enough in his early audition to start the third period on the top pair next to Travis Sanheim with the Flyers down 2-0. Despite Casey Mittelstadt’s goal that made it 3-0 Avalanche just over halfway through the third period, Grans was one of a few Flyers who led the charge on a ferocious comeback attempt.

Helge Grans takes his rookie lap #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/LkxZGaDssP

— Jonathan Bailey (@ByJonBailey) November 18, 2024

Just under two minutes after Owen Tippett scored to give the Flyers some life and rejuvenated the building, Grans picked up his first NHL point, earning a secondary assist on Tyson Foerster’s goal.

Grans intentionally shot a puck wide of the net, which Bobby Brink picked up and stabbed towards Justus Annunen. Foerster was then able to circle the net, get behind Annunen, and sweep the loose puck over the line to make it 3-2.

Although the Flyers ultimately lost, Grans finished with 16:11 of ice time — third on the Flyers behind only Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen — two shots on goal, a plus-2 rating, and one penalty.

“We’re going to figure out who he is,” Tortorella said of Grans. “We don’t know him that well, but he played good.

“He didn’t look out of place.”