After Saturday’s win against the New York Rangers, the Colorado Avalanche had to hang on in an afternoon matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Avs took the close 3–2 victory.

Colorado fell behind in the opening three minutes of the game, but responded in kind before hanging on to close things out. It was far from pretty, but two points are two points for the Avs team in the middle of an enormous battle.

View From the Mountaintop

Brent Burns opened the scoring for the Avalanche after they fell behind early. His goal got things rolling, and he continued to get pucks down low and create problems. He continually upped his game and has been an underrated pickup for the Avs. Meanwhile, Valeri Nichushkin ended up with the game-winning goal early in the second period. Since his return four games ago, he’s now scored twice and has not skipped a beat.

Mackenzie Blackwood played in Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers and got the nod again in this game instead of Trent Miner. You have to hang your hat on the decision, as it was a good one by Jared Bednar. He faced 26 shots on net, giving up two goals and having a save percentage of .923. But his best moment came when he denied Trevor Zegras on a penalty shot. It came thanks to a hold by Nathan MacKinnon amidst a load of pressure by Philadelphia looking for the equalizer.

Coming into this game, the Flyers were a strong team on home ice and on a good run in their last 10 games. Colorado needed to respond after edging ahead of the Rangers and did just that. They continue their hot streak atop the NHL standings and are close to 50 points on the season in a tough Central Division battle.

Up Next

Speaking of tough Central Division battles, Colorado wraps up its four-game road trip with a visit to the Nashville Predators. Puck drop on Tuesday night is at 7:30 p.m. MT.