Flyers analysis

Flyers shut out for 3rd straight game, feel bleak reality in loss to Avalanche

Tortorella's club has been outscored 10-0 in this skid of being blanked three consecutive times

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Danny Briere said the Flyers weren't giving up on the season and John Tortorella would never have such a mindset.

But, boy, this felt like a telling loss.

The Flyers resembled an injured, rebuilding team trying to piece things together three days after making a trade for the future. They lost to the Avalanche, 2-0, Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena in Denver.

The club was blanked for a third straight game and fifth time this season. It's the first time in the franchise's regular-season history that the Flyers have been shut out for three consecutive games.

The Flyers (23-25-6) have lost five of their last six games (1-5-0), a stretch in which they've been outscored 21-6.

After seeing the Flyers send Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to the Flames and then fail to score with a patchwork lineup, one couldn't help but think about the NHL draft lottery instead of a competitive finish to the season.

The Flyers were swept by the Avalanche (31-21-2) in their two-game regular-season series. They lost to Colorado, 3-2, in November at the Wells Fargo Center.

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• The Flyers had to roll with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. They had five skaters with under 60 games of NHL experience in their lineup.

Their newcomers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier were unavailable because of visa issues. The Flyers are hoping to have the wingers Tuesday.

Injured forwards Owen Tippett (undisclosed), Ryan Poehling (head) and Nicolas Deslauriers (upper body) remained out. Tippett joined the club on its two-game road trip, but his status for Tuesday is uncertain.

Deslauriers joined the Flyers for practice Saturday. Poehling was seen skating a week ago in a tracksuit.

Emil Andrae was recalled Saturday from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley and entered the lineup Sunday as the Flyers' seventh blueliner. He played 19:01 minutes.

More: Flyers call up Kolosov, place defenseman on injured reserve

The Flyers Postgame Live crew broke down the team's 2-0 loss to the Avalanche.

• Rasmus Ristolainen missed the third period and logged only 12:06 minutes.

Tortorella told reporters in Denver that the defenseman's absence was related to an injury. There was no further update.

• Samuel Ersson hung in there and gave the Flyers a chance with 30 saves on 32 shots.

The Flyers were outshot 18-7 in the second period.

After Scott Laughton misfired on a shot in the middle stanza, the Avalanche went the other way for an odd-man rush to strike first. A little under nine minutes after Samuel Girard scored, Nathan MacKinnon made it 2-0 on a Colorado power play. Laughton was in the penalty box for hooking.

Avalanche netminder Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 24 of the Flyers' shots.

The Flyers were shut out for a franchise-record third straight game with a 2-0 loss to the Avalanche.

• Along with Andrae, Jacob Gaucher was called up from the Phantoms and made his NHL debut.

The 23-year-old center started his professional career with the Flyers' ECHL affiliate Reading in 2022-23. After climbing to take on a key role for Lehigh Valley, he signed his entry-level contract in December.

"It's really a wonderful story," Briere said Saturday. "Someone that really never quit, he kept working, he kept improving and he has been a late bloomer."

The 6-foot-3 Gaucher had two shots and won all three of his faceoffs in 8:08 minutes.

• The Flyers are back in action Tuesday when they visit the Utah Hockey Club (9 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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