Avs finish trip on a high note with win over Flyers
PHILADELPHIA >> This road trip began with an opposing coach saying Colorado’s top line is playing at a level above the NHL. It ended with another trio of Avalanche forwards looking like a line the club can count on when the games really start to matter.
Logan O’connor scored his first career hat trick, while Ross Colton and Miles Wood combined for five assists as the Avalanche shook off a bit of a sleepy start to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-4, in a Saturday matinee at Wells Fargo Center.
Nathan Mackinnon collected the puck with Philadelphia’s net empty and a clear path to his own hat trick, but he saw O’connor next to him.
“It’s probably been 15 years since my last hat trick,” O’connor said. “I think (Mackinnon) knows he’s going to get a lot more hat tricks than I will. Nice of him to slide that one over. Ultimately, (that’s) a good way to end the road trip.”
Mackinnon scored twice and had four points while grabbing the outright NHL scoring lead from Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. Mikko Rantanen scored twice as well. Cale Makar became the second-fastest defensemen in NHL history to 300 career points. The big guns did their part, which has been almost a given for much of this season.
The Avs, despite all of their success, have had a lingering second-line problem. Colton, O’connor and Wood are not a prototypical second line, but they have been performing like one at times and Saturday was maybe the best example.
O’connor opened the scoring at 9:58 of the first period. The Avs had one “shot” on goal to that point, and it came from the defensive zone, but O’connor redirected a Sam Malinski attempt from the right point. The puck
tempt from the right point. The puck hit his skate, which was off the ice, and it was reviewed, but the goal stood.
He scored again in the second period on a pretty tip-in after a pass from Wood, before adding the empty-net tally. O’connor now has 11 goals for the season, which is a new career high. He has seven goals and 14 points in his past 14 games.
O’connor also drew a penalty that led to Colorado’s sixth goal, a power-play tally from Rantanen, which proved critical after the Flyers rallied to make it a onegoal game.
“Just super competitive, that’s what (O’connor) is,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “His confidence is super high, highly competitive — he just works in all the right areas, all three zones. The defending side of it has been exceptional always, but now he’s finding a little more of a groove going to the net and capitalizing on more opportunities.
“He’s earned everything he’s gotten this year.”
Wood missed five games because of an illness, but he’s been on a roll since returning. He set up Mackinnon’s first goal as well, giving him five points in the final three games of this trip.
Colton, one of the three Avs’ new additions at center during the offseason, had his first three-point game since 2021.
This was from a perfect performance — the Avs started slow, and allowed the Flyers back into at the start of the third period. It was enough to finish the road trip with three wins in five games, despite missing key players throughout.
“All road trip — it was (Andrew Cogliano) in Toronto, Ottawa it was a lot of Woody. OC had one there (as well),” Mackinnon said. “In all of our wins, it’s not a coincidence that our depth has been a big part of it.”
Two-thirds of what could be the Avalanche’s second line has been unavailable during this trip. Valeri Nichushkin entered the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program, and will be away from the team for an indefinite amount of time. Artturi Lehkonen has missed the past 35 games with a neck injury after a scary collision with the end boards against Seattle in November.
Lehkonen has been skating with the team and is close to returning. The Avs have two more games before the All-star break, and that could be a chance for him to get back in the lineup.
Given that Colorado’s top line has been one of the best in the league for much of this season, once Lehkonen and Nichushkin are back, the pieces of the Avalanche forward puzzle might fall into place. Regardless of whether a line of Colton, O’connor and Wood is the second or third trio, being dependable with some offensive punch would make them a huge part of that.