Colorado’s leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon was injured in the opening set of a losing game in Philadelphia.
The reigning champions, the Colorado Avalanche, suffered their second straight loss in NHL hockey. Without anyone injured in the previous match Artturi from Lehko Avalanche lost away to the Philadelphia Flyers with goals 3–5.
Colorado star forward Mikko Rantanen scored a spectacular solo goal in the fight, when he narrowed it down to 2–4 at the end of the third period. Rantanen from his own half of the field through the entire field, passed three Flyers players and shot accurately into the top corner in 57:47.
After Rantanen’s hit, the Avalanche managed to score one more time when they played without a goaltender, but Philadelphia ended Colorado Kir’s tie a minute before the end by moving the puck into an empty goal.
Rantanen now has 15 goals under his belt this season. The Finn, who is ranked 11th in the NHL’s points market, has been encouraged by the 23 games of the season with 15+17=32.
The Avalanche’s leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon missed the game in the opening set due to injury. The star striker was probably injured by Scott Laughton from tackling. Immediately after the match, the Avalanche did not say what kind of injury MacKinnon is suffering from.
Before the match, the Flyers were the NHL’s worst team with superiority, but now Philadelphia took advantage of two of their three superiority.
– We did play hard, but we made a couple of mistakes, for which Philadelphia punished, Colorado pilot Jared Bednar summed up.
In addition to Lehkonen, there were also some from the visiting team sidelined due to injury Gabriel Landeskog, Valery Nitshushkin, Bowen Byram, Evan Rodrigues, Darren Helm, Josh Manson, Jean-Luc Foudy and Kurtis MacDermid.
In addition to Rantanen, among the Finnish players in the six-game round, the Arizona Coyotes, who are having a breakthrough season, also reached power points. Matias Maccelli and the Montreal Canadiens Joel Armiawho recorded one assist.
The 22-year-old Maccelli was the starting pitcher for the Coyotes’ 1-2 shutout in a road game against the Calgary Flames. The Flames won the game 3–2. Maccelli has registered 17 (2+15) power points from 21 attempts this season.
Armia was the second pitcher in his team’s 5-5 equalizer when Montreal lost to the Vancouver Canucks in overtime 6-7. Montreal led 4–0 after the opening set and 4–2 at the beginning of the final set, but the persistent home team finally pushed for a goal-rich game to win.
The results of the NHL round:
Philadelphia–Colorado 5 to 3 COL: Rantanen 1+0
NY Rangers–St. Louis 6 to 4
Boston to Vegas hours 3-4
Edmonton–Washington 2–3
Calgary–Arizona 3–2
ARZ: Maccelli 0+1
Vancouver to Montreal and 7 to 6 MTL: Armia 0+1