The Avalanche exploded for two goals in the first 6 minutes - including David Jones' rebound goal just 61 seconds into the contest - and sent the Flyers running for cover.

Last night, though, the Flyers couldn't find any. Even two late goals could not stop the massive wave of snow that swept away the Flyers in a game that was much more lopsided than the final score of 5-4 indicated.

The Flyers trailed by two and three goals at two points of the game. Each time, they battled back to cut the deficit.

"We can't spot them a two-goal lead," Danny Briere said. "When we were on our little [winning] streak there, it seemed like when we didn't score as much, we were good defensively."

They finished their trip out west with an uninspiring 1-3 record, losing three straight. They end their five-game road swing tomorrow night in New York against the upstart Islanders.

Colorado's first two goals could be chalked up to sloppy personnel changes by the Flyers.

Playing in the Mile High City for the first time since signing with the Flyers this offseason, Ian Laperriere was stuck on the ice after an icing call with Mike Richards and James van Riemsdyk. Jones was able to pound in a rebound after Paul Stastny's original take to the net.

Just 4:31 later, Stastny scored on slap shot from Ray Emery's right side that went between Braydon Coburn and Chris Pronger. That gave Stastny as many points on the scoresheet as the Flyers had shots on goal at that point. Pronger was stuck on the ice that time.

A 30-second timeout by Flyers coach John Stevens seemed to turn the game around.

Briere's goal - after a perfectly placed Coburn shot to the far side - cut the deficit to 2-1 with just 34 seconds to play in the first period. And it didn't take long to erase the remaining gap, as Carter scored just 29 seconds into the second period.

But the momentum didn't last long. Cody McLeod responded for Colorado with a weak wrister past Emery fewer than 6 minutes after Carter had knotted the game.

"Once we tied it up, 2-2, we needed to take over the game," Pronger said. "For whatever reason, we didn't."

And the Flyers could not stop the bleeding there.

Three minutes later, Stastny robbed Carter of the puck and fed Scott Hannan in the slot for a shot that roasted Emery to make it 4-2. As the Pepsi Center horns were sounding for Hannan's goal, Emery was skating toward the bench.

Emery allowed four goals on just 17 shots and backup Brian Boucher entered with 10:54 remaining in the second period. It was the first time Emery had been pulled from a game this season.

Against Boucher, Jones scored his second goal of the night to give Colorado a 5-2 lead with 4:44 to play in the second period.

The third period was a different story.

"It was gut-check time," Pronger said. "We needed to answer the bell."

Claude Giroux's rock-'em, sock-'em beating of Marek Svatos with 3:31 remaining in the second period roused the Flyers into outshooting the Avalanche, 19-4, in the final frame. The Flyers had been outshot, 27-15, through the first two periods.

"I didn't like the way I played," Giroux said. "Hopefully we would start playing better. Sometimes it's fun to get messy a bit."

A fiery speech by Stevens in the second intermission helped spur the Flyers, but Briere was the catalyst in the comeback bid. He picked up his third and fourth points with under 10 minutes to go. He scored from the slot with 8:43 remaining and Carter netted his second of the night just 4 minutes later.

The Flyers were buzzing so much that it looked as if they would salvage at least one point from the game.

"We tried like crazy at the end," Stevens said. "If we played the whole game like we played at the end, we wouldn't be in that situation."

Skating with an extra man and a vacated net, they might have evened the game at 5-5 if not for a Scott Hartnell goalie-interference penalty with a little more than 2 minutes to go. Still, they had a shot to tie it with a flurry of empty-net opportunities and close calls in a game they had no business sniffing.

"We started pressuring and we stopped laying back," Richards said. "I think Johnny's [Stevens] message was loud and clear. We knew had to play with more desperation and urgency. It was too little, too late."

Slap shots

 

Mike Richards went five consecutive periods, including Saturday's game in Phoenix, without a single shot on goal. He finally got one in the second period . . . After going 0-for-8 in their last two games, the Flyers went 1-for-2 with the man advantage last night. They also held Colorado to 0-for-6.

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers.