Giroux Scores 2 To Help Flyers Avoid Collapse Against Avalanche
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist and the Philadelphia Flyers held off the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Saturday night for their third straight win.
Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers, and Jakub Voracek added three assists to his league-leading total to help Philadelphia win its fifth straight at home. Steve Mason stopped 36 shots to hang on for his third consecutive win.
Trailing 4-0 after two periods, Maxime Talbot, Alex Tanguay and Zach Redmond scored in the third as the Avalanche lost their sixth straight on the road. Reto Berra stopped 23 of 27 shots.
Philadelphia reconfigured its top line earlier this week by moving Simmonds, the right-winger with a right-handed shot, to the left side for the first time in his career. Flyers coach Craig Berube said he was looking for "chemistry."
The result: Three goals in a span of 11 minutes, 27 seconds from the top line.
The Flyers' first two goals came while Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon was sitting in the penalty box. MacKinnon earned a five-minute major for boarding Luke Schenn at 19:07 of the first period. The Philadelphia defenseman, who left the ice clutching his left arm, did not return.
Philadelphia's new-look top line capitalized on the man advantage.
Giroux found the back of the net with 3 seconds to go in the first period, off assists from Simmonds and Voracek. Using a screen in front of the net by Simmonds, Giroux fired a wrist shot from inside the left circle for a 1-0 lead. It was the Philadelphia captain's first goal in nine games, a streak that dated back to Oct. 18.
Then it was Simmonds' turn following the first intermission and, 9 minutes later, Brayden Schenn scored an even-strength goal from nearly the same spot in the crease, to pad Philadelphia's lead to 3-0.
Giroux's final tally, with 3:44 left in the second period, gave him his first multi-goal game of the season and handed Philadelphia a four-goal buffer.
Talbot's unassisted score at 2:29 of the third got the Avalanche on the scoreboard. Tanguay pulled Colorado within two a little more than 4 minutes later, and Redmond capped the scoring with 8:22 remaining.
NOTES: Philadelphia announced D Shayne Gostisbehere is out indefinitely with a torn ACL in his left knee. The rookie, who sustained the injury in Thursday's win over Florida, will undergo surgery Nov. 13. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall did not offer a timetable for Gostisbehere's return. The 21-year-old played in only two games for the Flyers following his Oct. 24 promotion from the AHL.
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