{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Philadelphia 4, Colorado 3
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 14456

DENVER -- Wayne Simmonds does plenty of damage with his stick, but he used his body to preserve a win after giving up his blade in a wild finish Wednesday.

Roman Lyubimov and Brayden Schenn scored goals 1:46 apart early in the third period, and the Flyers survived a chaotic ending to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 for their 10th consecutive win.

Simmonds and Michael Del Zotto also scored for Philadelphia, which got 26 saves from Steve Mason.

The winning streak is the Flyers' longest since 1985 and is tied for the fourth longest in franchise history. Philadelphia had to survive 91 seconds of Colorado swarming the net to get the streak to 10.

"Just an all-out battle," Mason said. "Guys were giving everything they could to block shots, try to clear pucks. We had a broken stick, a failed clear on a wrong-way stick. It's a heck of a way to close out a game. It was pretty chaotic."

Matt Duchene had two goals and Rene Bourque scored for the Avalanche, who have lost six in a row at home. Calvin Pickard stopped 21 shots for Colorado (11-16-1).

Philadelphia (19-10-3) had winning streaks of 13 and 11 games in 1984-85 and went on to reach the Stanley Cup finals that season.

If the Flyers can get back there, this win might be one of the highlights.

"It's a pretty good one," Simmonds said. "I've never won 10 in a row in any league, never mind the NHL, so it's pretty special."

The game was tied after two periods before the Flyers took control on a Colorado miscue.

Bourque skated from behind his own net when Philadelphia's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare checked him off the puck. Lyubimov corralled it in the right faceoff circle and beat Pickard with a slap shot at 3:30 of the third.

Schenn made it 4-2 at 5:16 when he slipped the puck past Pickard inside the left post. It was his ninth of the season and fifth in the past three games.

Then the Flyers had to hold on.

Duchene made it a one-goal game with his second of the game and 12th of the season at 15:15.

Pickard came off for an extra skater with 1:31 left, and then Philadelphia players started losing sticks.

Simmonds gave his to Bellemare, who lost his behind the net.

"We're essentially down another man so I can't take any passing lanes away. All I can do is be up top blocking shots," Simmonds said.

Bellemare, a lefty using Simmonds' right-handed stick, couldn't clear the puck because the blade was turned around, so Colorado got another great scoring chance.

"It was kind of a disaster, but the guys did a great job blocking shots, tying up sticks," Del Zotto said.

It was a tough way for Colorado to drop another home game.

"I missed one by I think an inch from the backdoor at the start," Duchene said of the last 1:31. "We pressed, we didn't give up, which is good, but we put ourselves into too many bad positions this year."

After a scoreless first period, the goals came in bunches in the second. Del Zotto got the first one when he knocked in his own rebound at 4:01 to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

Bourque tied it at 12:14 when he got the puck off a faceoff, wheeled around and snapped a shot past Mason for his ninth of the season.

Duchene made it 2-1 when he scored on a rebound at 16:34 of the period, but 23 seconds later, Simmonds tied it with his team-leading 16th goal.

Philadelphia appeared to score again 1:18 after Simmonds' goal, but a video review showed Bellemare tipped it past Pickard with a high stick.

"I really liked the way we played," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We made one more mistake than they made, and it cost us the game."

NOTES: Colorado G Semyon Varlamov was out with a groin injury that coach Jared Bednar said he didn't think was serious. The Avalanche recalled G Spencer Martin from San Antonio of the AHL to serve as Calvin Pickard's backup for the game. ... The Flyers will be without D Mark Streit for two weeks with a left shoulder injury. D Shayne Gostisbehere returned after missing a game with a hand injury and took Streit's place in the lineup. ... Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog played his second game and first at home in a month after missing 10 with a lower-body injury. ... Philadelphia RW Jakub Voracek was named one of the NHL's three stars for last week after amassing three goals and six assists in four games.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Colorado
Michael Del Zotto 1 Points Matt Duchene 2
Michael Del Zotto 1 Goals Matt Duchene 2
Claude Giroux 1 Assists Mikhail Grigorenko 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Steve Mason .897 Save Percentage Calvin Pickard .840
Steve Mason 26 Saves Calvin Pickard 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 25 4 0-3 3-3 11 27
Colorado 29 3 0-3 3-3 11 36
Upcoming Games
  • Colorado will play their next game at home against Florida. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Flyers have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .571 after a loss.