Flyers fire coach, then absorb 9th straight loss

Erik Johnson had a goal and an assist, and the Avalanche beat host Philadelphia 7-5 on Monday night to hand the Flyers their ninth straight loss just hours after they fired head coach Alain Vigneualt.

Mike Yeo became interim head coach of the Flyers, but they didn’t fare any better following the shakeup.

Nazem Kadri, Gabriel Landeskog, Alex Newhook, Cale Makar, Valeri Nichushkin and Tyson Jost also scored for the Avalanche, who had 50 shots on goal.

Claude Giroux scored twice for Philadelphia, which could tie the club record for consecutive losses Wednesday night at New Jersey. Oskar Lindblom, Cam Atkinson and Scott Laughton also had goals.

Earlier in the day, the Flyers fired Vigneualt after he went 147-74-54 in two-plus seasons. Vigneault led the Flyers to the top seed in the Eastern Conference in 201920, but they missed the playoffs last season. General manager Chuck Fletcher made the move following Philadelphia’s 7-1 home loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday night.

Fletcher also let go of assistant coach Michel Therrien, who oversaw a power play that entered 30th in the NHL.

Vigneault was the second head coach to be fired in two days. On Sunday, Vancouver dumped Travis Green and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau.

Senators 3, Devils 2: Josh Norris scored the decisive goal in a shootout to lift visiting Ottawa over New Jersey.

Capitals 4, Ducks 3: John Carlson tied the game late in the second period and then scored Washington’s third and final shootout goal in a victory over visiting Anaheim.

Stars 4, Coyotes 1: Jacob Peterson made good on a second chance at the goahead goal against Arizona, and host Dallas tied a franchise record with its seventh consecutive win.

Penguins 6, Kraken 1: Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel each had two goals as visiting Pittsburgh routed Seattle.

Canucks 4, Kings 0: Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller each had a goal and an assist as host Vancouver defeated Los Angeles.