The Philadelphia Flyers finally earned their first victory, but turning it into a winning streak won’t be easy.
The Flyers hope to generate a bit of momentum Monday when they host Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche.
After going 0-6-3 in its first nine games, Philadelphia finally found its way into the win column Saturday with a 3-1 triumph against the Ottawa Senators. The Flyers hadn’t even scored more than two goals in a game until Trevor Zegras’ empty-netter in the final seconds against Ottawa.
“I think we got a lot of good leaders in this room, a lot of people on this team that can kind of pull people into the fight,” said Flyers rookie Porter Martone, who had a goal and an assist. “I thought that everyone did a great job of that today, and that’s a big win for us.”
Matvei Michkov also registered a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, while Dan Vladar turned aside 25 shots for the hosts. The Flyers played without key wingers Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett, as well as two of their top defensemen in Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York.
“It was a gutsy effort,” said Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, whose team also could be without Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier on Monday. “A lot of guys hurt. Some guys stepped up. It’s a good hockey team over there. It was nice to see some resiliency. It was good. Saw a lot of compete tonight, some better execution. There’s some stuff that we really liked tonight. Hopefully, we can carry it on.”
That certainly won’t be easy against a talented Avalanche team that is coming off a 5-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. MacKinnon notched a goal and three assists, giving him 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) on the season — a total that was tied for third in the league entering Sunday.
After the game, though, MacKinnon was busy paying compliments to Artturi Lehkonen, who scored twice for his second multi-goal effort of the young season.
“He’s been good,” MacKinnon said of Lehkonen. “He’s always getting to the right areas. We got a good warmup going before the game, me and Lehks. Good chemistry in the gym, and it’s translating.”
Martin Necas had three assists, while Cale Makar chipped in with two assists for the Avalanche. T.J. Hughes and Gabriel Landeskog were the other goal scorers for Colorado, which has alternated wins and losses in its last seven games.
“I’m convinced our guys know what makes us successful as a team, but we’re just having a tough time right now putting together a full 60 (minutes),” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But when we decide to play and play the right way with the right level of, for me it’s intensity and discipline, then we’re a really good team, and we’re playing well. We just have to find a way to just get it there for 60 minutes.”
The Avalanche won 3-2 in Philadelphia last season before losing the rematch at home 7-3. Tippett had a hat trick in the second meeting.