The Avalanche lost a big game Wednesday, falling 2-1 to Philadelphia at the . Here’s the game story.
This side feature is on Gabe Landeskog reaching 500 career NHL games at age 25.
THREE STARS
- Ivan Provorov. Flyers young defenseman had the game-winning goal and an assist.
- Claude Giroux. Philly’s captain had just one shot but ripped it for the first goal of the game
- Andrew Hammond. Avs’ third-string goalie played well enough to win on a travel day and his first appearance with the team.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Hammond robbed Matt Read with a kick save from the doorstep to prevent the Flyers from going up 3-0 early in the second period. Blown coverage allowed Read time and space in front of the net.
NEXT UP
Chicago, Friday at the Pepsi Center, 7 p.m.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
Offensive slump. The Avs haven’t scored two goals in regulation/overtime in each of their last three games, and the top line of , Gabe Landeskog and are pointless in that stretch.
Better than OK on the PK. Verbatim from the team: The Avs were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and are now 110-for-119 (92.4%) on the PK at home this season, the best home penalty kill in the league. With two home games remaining, Colorado is within reach of the NHL’s best-ever home PK percentage, 92.4%, set by the 1998-99 .
Tough loss to Philly tonight by , who are in an offensive slump
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Lower minutes. Defenseman Erik Johnson still leads Colorado in ice time on the season but he only played 20:40 Wednesday, well behind team-leader (26:07). Johnson logged 22:10 at Vegas on Monday but didn’t have a great game. Johnson might be playing through some pain or limited use of an arm due to his recent shoulder injury.
Broken record. The Avs won just 15 of 39 faceoffs (38 percent) and now stand at an NHL-worst 44 percent. They won the last faceoff of the game and certainly need to dig deeper in this area.
Keeper on D. Newly acquired defenseman Mark Alt logged 12:12, the most he’s played in three games with the Avs. If the playoffs started today, Alt would be in the lineup (assuming is still injured).
