Claude Giroux is known for his playmaking, not his fists.

    Yet, with the Flyers facing a 5-2 deficit Monday, the little forward pounded Marek Svatos during a fight late in the second period and it seemed to spark his team toward one of its best 20 minutes of the season.

     But it didn't matter.

     It didn't matter because the injury-ravaged Flyers were awful in the first two periods and they fell to Colorado, 5-4, for their third straight loss.

     Trailing 5-2, the Flyers outshot the Avs, 19-4, and got goals from Danny Briere (two goals, two assists) and Jeff Carter (two goals) in the third period.

     Too late.

     Goalie Ray Emery, who has been steady all season, had one of his worst nights. Emery allowed four goals on 17 shots and was replaced by Brian Boucher midway through the second period with the Flyers facing a 4-2 deficit.

     Giroux admitted that he wanted to fight because,  “I didn’t like the way I was playing" and thought it would turn things around. "Sometimes it’s fun to get messy a bit," he said.

      Inspired by Giroux and given a stern lecture by coach John Stevens betwen the second and third periods, the Flyers dominated the final 20 minutes.

      That didn't mask their ineptness in the first 40 minutes.

     "Unacceptable," defenseman Chris Pronger called it.

      “If you have to score six goals to win a hockey game, you’re not going to win many games,” Stevens said. “Clearly, we got on our heels. We tried like crazy at the end; if we would have played the whole game like we did at the end, we wouldn’t have been in that situation.”

    The Flyers have lost three straight, and they continue to take penalties at inopportune times. They gave Colorado six power plays, including a late goalie-interference infraction on Scott Hartnell that virtually killed their chances to tie it.

    The Flyers had only two power plays.