The Colorado Avalanche routed one struggling team on Friday and will welcome another on Sunday when the Philadelphia Flyers visit Denver.
The Avalanche beat St. Louis 5-0 in their first home game since trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-team deal on Jan. 24. The two players they got in the deal, Martin Necas and Jack Drury, have made an immediate impact.
Necas scored a goal Friday night and has five points in four games since joining Colorado, while Drury has two goals with his new club. Necas has played on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and has meshed well with the NHL’s points leader.
“It’s always fun to play against the Avs here,” Necas said. “Obviously always tough to play against. To be on the other side feels great.”
Colorado was struggling before beating the Blues, having gone 4-5-1 in its previous 10 games. The power play was dormant but broke out with two goals Friday night, including one from Cale Makar, who leads all NHL defenseman with 19 goals and is second with 57 points.
MacKinnon notched his NHL-leading 60th assist and has 79 points, while Necas ended Friday night tied for 10th in the league in scoring with 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists). With Rantanen gone, Artturi Lehkonen leads the team with 21 goals and is fourth in points with 30.
The Avalanche won the first meeting between the teams, 3-2, in Philadelphia on Nov. 18 behind two goals from Makar. Rantanen had a pair of assists in that win.
The Flyers are also adjusting to roster changes after they traded forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to Calgary on Friday for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier and draft picks. Frost was fourth on the team in scoring with 25 points before the trade.
General manager Daniel Briere said the deal gives him cap flexibility in the offseason and gives Pelletier a chance with a different team and system.
“A former first-round pick. Couldn’t get it going in Calgary, so we are hoping he can get it going,” Briere said at a press conference on Saturday morning. “He has a high motor; he’s only 23.”
Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists), Matvei Michkov is second with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) and Owen Tippett has 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists).
Philadelphia enters Sunday in a scoring drought. The Flyers have been shut out in their last two games and have been outscored 19-6 while losing four of their last five.
“It’s not good enough at this time of year,” center Scott Laughton said. “We’ve got to find some traction here before it goes too far the other way.”
Before the start of its two-game road trip, Philadelphia recalled defenseman Emil Andrae and forward Jacob Gaucher.
Although there is plenty of season left, both teams are trying to climb in their respective conference standings. The Flyers entered Saturday five points out of the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, while Colorado currently holds a five-point cushion for the top wild-card spot in the West.
–Field Level Media
