"After the Avalanche's tough 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night, coach Joe Sacco delivered the understatement of the day. "Our power play needs to be better," Sacco said. No kidding. If not for that crucial part of special-teams play, the Avs almost certainly would have come away with at least one point at the newly named Wells Fargo Center. Not only did the overpassing Avs come up empty on three man-advantage chances, they gave up one official short-handed goal and another unofficial one. "Even if we don't score, we've got to try to get some momentum for our team. We had three goals against tonight with five guys on the ice, though one was an empty-netter. We've got to tighten up in that area," said Avs center Matt Duchene, who assisted on a third-period goal by Milan Hejduk that brought Colorado back to tie from a 2-0 deficit. Jeff Carter's bad-angle, backhand shot that deflected in off Craig Anderson's skate, which came after the Avs killed off a Flyers power play, broke a 2-2 tie with 2:38 left. "I came across, and on the way up, the puck was coming back," Anderson said. The Flyers added an empty-net goal for the final score, right after Anderson was called for unsportsmanlike conduct (diving) after being tangled up with Carter. "I don't know if the referee has ever been in a butterfly before with a slash then the guy pushes you," Anderson said. "But it's the call they made. It's a judgment call, and you can't argue with them." The Flyers took advantage of two Avs power-play miscues to build a 2-0 lead after the first period. Claude Giroux scored off a steal from Avs winger TJ Galiardi and walked in alone on Anderson, beating him high on the backhand for a short-handed goal and 1-0 Philly lead." Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_16310116
