DENVER — The power play has often been the catalyst for Avalanche wins this season. But currently mired in a 1-for-21 stretch on the man advantage, Colorado instead used a shorthanded goal to lead them to victory on Tuesday.
Artturi Lehkonen scored a crucial goal in the second period while killing a penalty as the Avalanche came away with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Ball Arena. Lehkonen’s tally made it 2-1 after he beat out the defender to the loose puck and fired it past goalie Felix Sandstrom. For Lehkonen, it was his eighth of the season and gave the Avs consecutive victories for the first time since a three-game winning streak from Nov. 17-21.
It was also a nice bit of positive karma for Lehkonen, who was on the ice when Colorado surrendered a late shorthanded goal to the St. Louis Blues on a similar play two days prior.
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“Very similar goals,” coach Jared Bednar said, “Didn’t look like we were gonna be able to get there but I think their guy was a little bit tired. He got caught a little bit outside and then Lehky had some good jump. He was fresh on the ice.”
Devon Toews scored Colorado’s first goal to tie it up at 1-1. His second of the season came nearly midway through the second period off a setup from J.T. Compher. After receiving a pass from Logan O’Connor, Compher skated into the Flyer’s zone and split both Philadelphia defensemen with a pass to Toews, who was able to slip it under Sandstrom’s pad.
Toews’ tally was the first Avalanche goal in three games that was not scored by Mikko Rantanen. And the creativity from Compher was certainly noticed.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, no question,” Bednar said. “When you’re doing all the work and you don’t get rewarded. It can be disheartening, it can be frustrating. You have to be mentally tough to kind of work through slumps and periods of time where you’re not getting rewarded. But he’s getting rewarded and it’s partly because he’s playing so hard.
“He’s pretty been pretty good with the puck on both sides of the ice.”
The Avalanche’s third goal, which came in the third period, was scored by Compher. It was his fourth goal and 16th point in 27 games. Compher is on pace to shatter his career-high in points. If he continues to produce at this level, eclipsing 40, or even 45 points, is not out of the question. He has three goals and five assists in his last seven games.
And he’s doing it while playing an elevated role at both ends of the ice. Without Nathan MacKinnon in the lineup, Compher has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time over the past five games. He took 29 of the games’ 58 faceoffs against the Flyers, winning 16 of them.
“At the beginning of the season, I felt like I was playing good hockey, not really getting bounces,” Compher said. “I don’t really worry too much about points. I think that my game is more than that. Faceoffs and defensive side of it is the focus first and points come when you do it right.”
Colorado entered the game having scored just one power-play goal in its last 18 opportunities. The tough stretch continued after the Avs failed to capitalize on three chances. What was once the top-ranked power play now sits in second place, largely because of MacKinnon’s absence.
Compher has been elevated to the top unit in recent games.
“He’s one of the best power-play players in the league,” he said of MacKinnon. “I think for me, it’s not trying to replace him. It’s just trying to fit in with that group. And I think I have a little bit more to give in that area.”
Without MacKinnon — or Evan Rodrigues, who has spent time on the top unit at times this year — the Avalanche rolled out a second unit consisting of Alex Newhook, Charles Hudon and Jean-Luc Foudy up front. It’s not quite what they’ll have out there if or when they have a fully healthy lineup.
Starting for the second consecutive game, goalie Pavel Francouz had a relatively easy night. He stopped 26 shots as the Avs were outshot 28-25, including 16-6 in the third period. Francouz made seven saves in the first period, surrendering the only goal to defenseman Cam York. Francouz’s victory in St. Louis on Sunday, where he made 30 saves, earned him another start. Following his second straight win, Francouz is now 4-5-0 on the season with a .913 save percentage.
