Carter Hart was pulled after two periods Saturday afternoon as the Flyers were cooled off by the Avalanche in a 7-4 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers also lost Owen Tippett in the third period. The 24-year-old winger was injured in the corner and limped up the tunnel for evaluation. He did not return to the game because of a lower-body injury.
It wasn't the Flyers' day.
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John Tortorella's club had its five-game winning streak snapped. It had allowed only 1.60 goals per game in that run before Colorado came to town and did damage.
Tyson Foerster and Cam Atkinson drew the Flyers (25-15-6) within one during the third period.
But the Avalanche restored order with a power play goal from Mikko Rantanen.
Nathan MacKinnon was as advertised. Colorado's superstar center put up two goals and two assists.
NHL
"You can try to get in front of him and try to get your speed with him, but ultimately those players are generational talent," Atkinson said. "There's only so much you can do."
Logan O'Connor scored an empty-netter to cap off a hat trick.
The Flyers split their two-game regular-season series with the Avalanche (30-14-3). Last month, the Flyers won in Denver for the first time since March 2018, holding Colorado to just two goals.
• Hart is going to take some heat for this one considering the five goals he allowed came on 15 shots.
He wasn't sharp and the Flyers needed him to come up with more saves.
But four of the five goals weren't exactly softies.
"Obviously you get 15 shots, you let in five, you want to make a few more saves," Hart said. "They made some good plays, credit to them. But at the end of the day, I've got to just learn from this and move on. That's it."
The seven-time All-Star MacKinnon put the Avalanche in the driver's seat 43 seconds into the middle stanza. The 28-year-old got behind the Flyers' defense and beat Hart on a mini breakaway to make it 3-0.
After Morgan Frost found Joel Farabee to draw the Flyers within two, Colorado forced a turnover and scored in transition. O'Connor finished the sequence with his second goal of the game.
"I think in the second period, we had a few turnovers that cost us," Tortorella said.
MacKinnon's second goal is one Hart should want back. It was a shot from distance after the Flyers had made it 4-2 on a Travis Konecny marker.
"It went off our own guy," Hart said.
In a 5-2 game, Samuel Ersson took over at the start of the third period. He finished with eight saves on nine shots in relief.
"I felt we were in the game," Tortorella said. "That's why I switched the goalie."
• The Avalanche put the Flyers in a 2-0 hole at first intermission.
They struck first on a double deflection about midway through the opening frame.
Sam Malinski's shot went off of Ross Colton's stick and then O'Connor's skate. The goal was upheld by video review, which confirmed there was no distinct kicking motion.
Six seconds after its power play expired, Colorado extended its lead when MacKinnon found Rantanen alone in the circle.
The Flyers outshot the Avalanche 12-5 during the period, but Colorado showed off its smarts and skill in the offensive zone.
"First period, they have three chances, they have two goals," Tortorella said. "Pucks were going in for them. And they're good. They're a good team at scoring goals, one of the top goal-scoring teams in the league."
Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev stopped 36 of the Flyers' 40 shots.
Atkinson had a three-point game (one goal, two assists) and Frost had another two-assist performance.
"We felt like we were going to come back that whole third period," Frost said. "I think we made a good push and just got a little unlucky there."
• Missing Tippett for any period of time would be a considerable loss. He has been a force of late for the Flyers.
Update: Tippett considered day to day
• Given how well the Flyers played in their 5-1 win Thursday over the Stars, Tortorella went with the same lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Bobby Brink, Nicolas Deslauriers and Marc Staal were extras.
For Brink, it was the 22-year-old rookie's third healthy scratch in the last five games. Something to monitor.
• The Flyers are right back at it Sunday when they host Claude Giroux and the Senators (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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