3 Takeaways From Flyers' 7-4 Loss vs. Avalanche

It was an afternoon to forget at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers continued their home stand on Jan. 20 against the Colorado Avalanche, using an unchanged lineup from their outstanding performance against the Stars, with the exception of starting Carter Hart in net. It was a humbling loss, but they'll be looking to shake it off quickly before heading into their next game. 

With how the weather forecast has looked in the region lately, that could be taken very literally. In this case, it's a reference to how outstanding Morgan Frost has been for the Flyers lately. He's been an indispensable part of the offense, creating a hefty portion of the Flyers' scoring chances. He floats and weaves across the ice, making good use of a sixth sense for finding inch-perfect passes to his teammates. Two apples against the Avalanche make it five assists in five games for Frost, who was a player fans were unable to take their eyes off of when he was out on the ice.

It was tough watching five goals get past Hart. He faced a plethora of hard shots from a relentless Avalanche offense, and didn't always have his defense covering him as well as they should've been. Still, it didn't stop head coach John Tortorella from pulling Hart in the third period to put Sam Ersson between the pipes. During his very brief post-game press conference, Tortorella said, "I felt we were in the game. That's why I switched the goalie."

While this doesn't make Hart a bad goalie by any stretch of the imagination, it most likely will reignite talks of him being traded due to increasing frustration with his performances compared to Ersson's. The constant comparisons between the two, with Hart often being deemed second fiddle to Ersson's heroics, won't do wonders for his confidence, but maybe a meeting with Tortorella could turn things around for him. (It worked for Frost, after all.)

As humbling of a loss as it was, the Flyers made a point to let viewers know they're not throwing themselves a pity party tonight. Cam Atkinson, who was a star on offense this afternoon, made sure to emphasize that while they'll strive to learn from it, they're not going to let the loss damage their confidence. "That's never our mentality," he said. 

There will be worries about Owen Tippett's condition, as he left the game with a lower body injury and there have not been any updates on the severity of his knock, but the Flyers have been too hot to let one loss against a very good Avalanche team lose their fire. 

The Flyers will have a quick turnaround, staying on home ice to play the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 21 at 1 pm EST. 

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