*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
If someone who follows hockey tells me they don't know who Cale Makar is, they're lying about following hockey. Makar scored twice, Nazem Kadri scored, and the Colorado Avalanche rolled to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night in Colorado.
The two goal game for Makar gave him goals 23 and 24 on the season, passing Sandis Ozolinsh for the Avalanche single season record for goals by a defenseman. The Avalanche also won their 5th game in their last 6, improving to 46-14-5 on the season as they battle the Florida Panthers for the presidents trophy this season.
Makar said of his record that "Mikko told me on the bench. It's pretty special. But those goals go back to the team. It's awesome to achieve something like that, but at the end of the day we're focused on this last run in the regular season."
Getting the start in net for the Avalanche was Pavel Francouz, giving Darcy Kuemper the night off. Francouz played well, saving 28 of the 31 shots he faced from the Flyers, good for a .903 save percentage. With the win, Francouz improves his record to 12-3-1 in 16 games.
Kadri got the scoring started for the Avalanche, giving them a 1-0 lead 7:20 into the game on his 25th goal of the season. James Van Riemsdyk scored to pull the Flyers even at 1-1, but that was followed by a power play goal from Makar, and then two even strength goals, from JT Compher and Mikko Rantanen, making it 4-1 Avs after one period.
In the second period, Kurtis MacDermid scored his second goal of the season, putting the Avalanche up 5-1 at the 12:19 mark of the second, assisted by Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano. Zack McEwen got the Flyers on the board with 32 seconds left in the second, making it a 5-2 game on his second goal of the season.
In the 3rd period, Max Willman scored for the Flyers to cut the deficit to 5-3 at the 7:44 mark of the 3rd, his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Travis Sanheim and Kevin Hayes. Makar then picked up his second goal of the night a mere 41 seconds later, making it 6-3, assisted by Rantanen.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said postgame that "I thought we had good jump. Pretty good offensively tonight, I thought. Didn't make a lot of mistakes, but some of the ones we made, we gave them some easy goals. I didn't really like that part of it."
Getting the start in goal for the Flyers was Carter Hart, who was beaten around like a beachball in an ugly loss. Hart saved 45 shots, which is good, but not when you see that he faced 51 shots from the potent Colorado offense. That made for an .882 save percentage. With the loss, Hart's record drops to 13-21-7 on the season.
Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said of the loss that "Against a team like that, with that kind of skill, you always have to play smart. I always believe the best way to stop speed is before it starts, and I didn't think we did a very good job of that."
Both teams hit the road for Sunday matchups. The Avalanche take on their division rival Minnesota Wild, with Kuemper likely back in to start. Hart is likely to start for the Flyers when they take on the Nashville Predators.
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