For those waiting for Paul Stastny to do more: The fourth-year Avalanche center had one of those games Monday night that hint he might be able to live up to the expectations raised by his $33 million, five-year contract extension.
Stastny had a goal and two assists, and David Jones scored twice as the Avalanche took a three-goal lead and then held on to snap a losing streak at two games with a 5-4 win over the Flyers at the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche jumped out to a quick two-goal lead, with Stastny setting up the first and scoring the second. On the first, he came from behind the net and fed the puck in front, and Wojtek Wolski and Jones took whacks at it before Jones got it past Flyers goalie Ray Emery at 1:01.
Stastny’s shot from the top of the slot made it 2-0 at 5:32.
After the Flyers got goals from Daniel Briere and Jeff Carter to pull into a 2-2 tie, Cody McLeod gave the Avalanche the lead at 6:03 of the second period, and Stastny set up Scott Hannan for the goal that made it 4-2 at 9:06 of the second.
Hannan suffered a neck injury when taking a hit after getting off the shot, though, and didn’t return to the game, forcing Colorado to go with five defensemen the rest of the game. His goal chased Emery, and Brian Boucher came on. Jones’ second goal made it 5-2 after two periods before Briere’s second of the night made it 5-3 at 11:17 of the third. Carter scored again on a power play to make it 5-4 at 15:21 of the third.
The loss was the third straight for the Flyers on their Western road swing, while the Avalanche remained in first place in the Northwest Division.
Colorado next meets Nashville at home Wednesday, then has a home-and-home against the Minnesota Wild — Friday afternoon in St. Paul and Saturday night in Denver.
