DENVER — Wayne Simmonds would have been replaying his missed chance on the flight to Phoenix, but his teammates saved him from the agony.
With the Flyers down 1-0 midway through the second period, the puck came to Simmonds’ stick with an open net in front of him. The team’s leading goal scorer was ready to celebrate when Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov stuck out his left pad and denied the forward.
“I thought it was in, to be honest with you,” Simmonds said after the Flyers’ 4-2 comeback win over the Avalanche on Thursday (see Instant Replay). “I was about to raise my arms, but he’s a heck of a goalie. I wish I had that one back.”
That missed chance looked ominous until Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux scored 19 seconds apart late in the third to rally the Flyers.
The win was a product of the Flyers’ resiliency after a slow start to the night. They were outplayed early, looked sluggish in a scoreless first period but got their legs back in the second and played great the rest of the way.
“We got through it,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “You saw how short the shifts were, and that’s typical when you come into this building. Guys did a great job on their own keeping their shifts short. As we got into the second period we got our second wind and pushed the envelope.”
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After having a point stolen in Columbus on Tuesday, the Flyers stole two from the Avalanche with three goals in the final 5:43. It could be a tide-turning moment in a long season.
“It’s a great confidence booster,” Gudas said. “We believe in each other. Being down with six minutes to go, nobody was doubting us on the bench. It's a great feeling.”
The Flyers could have been blown out in Colorado on Thursday but found a way to win. They were playing their third game in four nights and for the eighth time in 13 days while Colorado was coming off three days' of rest.
It showed early, with goalie Steve Mason facing 15 shots in the first period one game after the Blue Jackets threw 53 at him. If he was fatigued, it didn’t bother him. In fact, he was happy to be that busy after sitting around during Wednesday’s blizzard in Denver.
“It was almost better for me to face a lot early on,” he said after stopping 32 shots. “It gets you right back into the swing of things after spending a majority of the day in the hotel room yesterday. It was good to feel the puck early and often. We weathered the storm early.”
Colorado held a 20-9 lead in shots when it took a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the second, but then the Flyers dominated to avoid a second straight defeat.
“It was almost as if their goal sparked us,” Mason said. “It looked like we were struggling a little bit, but the boys responded and really took it to them in the last portion of the game. It’s funny, you have a tough loss the other night and come back with a big comeback. It’s a good feeling.”
Gudas got the rally started with his shot from the point at 14:17 of the third that tied it. He now has five goals, all in the last 10 games.
“It’s awesome being a part of it and contributing for the team, especially for these important games at this crucial time of the season,” he said.
Giroux followed 19 seconds later, and the Flyers left snowy Colorado tied with Detroit in the wild-card race with nine games left (see wild-card standings).
It also meant Simmonds didn’t have to stew about being stoned by Varlamov.
“It came down to a battle in the third and I thought we did a really good job in the third period, and that was the difference,” Simmonds said. “We got the two points. That’s all that matters.”