![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TMC-Z-Flyers-Avs58593426.jpg\")
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson reacts as time runs out in the third period of a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\nIt didn\u2019t take long for the Flyers to make that Utah nightmare a distant memory.<\/p>\n
Two days, to be exact.<\/p>\n
On Friday night, the Flyers knocked off the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche, 7-3, on their home ice at Ball Arena in Denver.<\/p>\n
The seven goals are a season-high for the Flyers.<\/p>\n
The Avalanche entered the game with a home record of 20-1-4, tops in the league. And the Flyers scored four goals in the third period against a team that had been plus-20 in the third period.<\/p>\n
Owen Tippett\u2019s second career hat trick led the way for the Flyers. He capped it off with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 10:24 of the third period to put the game away.<\/p>\n
Goaltender Sam Ersson bounced back from a mammoth disappointment in the Utah game, one in which they blew a two-goal lead in the third period and lost in overtime, to pick up the win.<\/p>\n
Unlike the Utah game, the Flyers showed much better poise after taking another two-goal lead late in the contest.<\/p>\n
A goal by Tippett, his second of the game, just 56 seconds into the third period broke a 3-3 tie and 1:04 later, Matvei Michkov, who scored twice in this game, connected for a shot past goalie Mackenzie Blackwood for a two-goal lead.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia completed the three-game road trip with a 2-0-1 mark. Five of a possible six points helped their position in the standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the resilience,\u201d Tippett said in response to a question about the rebound after the Utah debacle. \u201cThe ability to take the last game and throw it out the window. We all knew without saying that wasn\u2019t acceptable. We wanted to have a bounce-back game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Rick Tocchet was quick to rattle off praise for Tippett, Ersson and the Flyers\u2019 resilience from the Utah game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think the last month he [Tippett] has been one of our best forwards,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cHis ability to transport the puck, we need, and he\u2019s one of those guys who can do it. He looked really good tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson reacts as time runs out in the third period of a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n
Ersson was a big part of this three-game road trip success.<\/p>\n
\u201c \u2018Ers\u2019 was really good for us,\u201d the coach said. \u201cHe was down in the dumps [after Utah]. He wanted to get his game going. He spent a lot of time with video. He had a lot of demons in him and he had to face those. I think he did. He was solid in the net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ersson was all smiles after the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cA huge win to bounce back after the last game,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get a lead [vs. Colorado] and they come back. You get kind of those flashbacks from the Utah game. I think it says a lot we were able to get that third period. A huge road trip and a good feeling going home.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for rebounding from the Utah game, Tocchet sounded impressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we scratched and clawed,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to kill a bunch of penalties tonight. I really thought they grinded it out, killing those.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why did Friday night\u2019s third period turn out better than Wednesday night\u2019s?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a meeting about it,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cTonight there were about four or five guys who stood on the bench and said some key things. The guys that were talking usually don\u2019t say much. It was inspiring for me to hear them say that. We have to enjoy these pressure games. You don\u2019t want to hide from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Flyers held a 2-0 lead at the first intermission but the Avalanche quickly got it in gear in the second.<\/p>\n
The Avs scored two unanswered goals from Parker Kelly at 7:17 and Victor Olafsson. Bobby Brink answered for the Flyers at 11:01 but Colorado came back to tie it again on a goal from defenseman Cale Makar from close range.<\/p>\n
Despite getting outshot, 17-7, in the first period, the Flyers jumped to that two-goal lead on goals by Tippett and Denver Barkey.<\/p>\n
Tippett used a Barkey feed for the opening goal at 15:02. Tippett\u2019s first shot was blocked but he followed up the rebound with a rip past Blackwood.<\/p>\n
Then Tippett helped return the favor. He fed Michkov who, in turn, found Barkey in front. He made no mistake from the right hash marks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a good job killing off those two penalties at the start,\u201d Tippett said in a televised interview at the first intermission. \u201d \u2018Barks\u2019 made a great play coming out of our zone. He kind of suckered the D-man so he wasn\u2019t right up on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barkey is finding the scoring range again (five points in five games) after a brief slump.Was Denver thinking he was destined to score in Denver?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, I was thinking about that,\u201d Barkey said in the second intermission. \u201cObviously super cool. I think we got stuck on our heels a little bit [in the second]. We have to get back on our toes, get back to our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Dan Vladar still sidelined by injury, Ersson started his third straight game.<\/p>\n
Tocchet apparently wasn\u2019t fazed by Ersson allowing three goals over the last period and overtime at Utah.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Ersson] playing a couple games in a row hopefully can spur his confidence,\u201d Tocchet said.<\/p>\n
Mistakes were costly in the Mammoth game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis group is a real unselfish group,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cBut sometimes we do selfish things. We have to cut that out. You just cannot turn pucks over. You can learn from mistakes. That\u2019s how you get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michkov hit an empty net in the third period for the final score.<\/p>\n
Short shots<\/p>\n
The Flyers return home to play the New York Islanders on Monday night, weather permitting. \u2026 Nic Deslauriers and Nikita Grebenkin were among the scratches. \u2026 Tippett\u2019s four points tied a career high. \u2026 Blackwood entered the game with a career mark of 11-2-2 vs. the Flyers.<\/p>\n
Wayne Fish is a freelance writer. Follow his coverage at www.flyingfishhockey.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It didn\u2019t take long for the Flyers to make that Utah nightmare a distant memory. Two days, to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4,56,43,5095],"class_list":{"0":"post-425341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115949545427963351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}