Tippett has 2nd career hat trick, Flyers beat NHL-leading Avs 7-3

DENVER (AP) — Owen Tippett had his second career hat trick and the Philadelphia Flyers handed the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche their fourth loss in five games, 7-3 on Friday night.

Tippett opened the scoring in the first and struck twice in the third. He also had an assist. Matvei Michkov had two goals and an assist, Denver Barkey and Bobby Brink also scored and Samuel Ersson made 32 saves.

Philadelphia finished 2-0-1 on a three-game trip and spoiled the 25th reunion of Colorado’s 2001 Stanley Cup championship squad.

The Avalanche had 15 players from the title team on hand, including team president Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque, Peter Forsberg and Rob Blake. They watched Colorado suffer just its second home regulation loss of the season and finish 3-3-1 on its longest homestand of the season.

Tippett gave the Flyers a 4-3 lead 56 seconds into the third period. Just 1:04 later, Michkov deflected Emile Andrae’s shot over Mackenzie Blackwood’s shoulder. Tippett scored on a short-handed breakaway with 9:36 left to push his season goals total to 18.

Cale Makar, Parker Kelly and Victor Olofsson scored for Colorado, and Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to retake the NHL scoring lead with 87 points.

Blackwood allowed six goals on 19 shots in his second game since returning from a lower-body injury.

Flyers: Host the New York Islanders on Monday night.

Avalanche: At Toronto on Sunday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Colorado Avalanche center Zakhar Bardakov lies on the ice after being injured when he ran into the end boards in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Retired NHL player Ray Bourque places the Stanley Cup on a table during a ceremony to honor members of the Colorado Avalanche's 2001 championship team that featured Bourque before an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, left, collects the puck as Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) tumbles to the ice in the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov, center, puts a shot on Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood, left, as Cale Makar covers in the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson, left, tries to stop after propelling Philadelphia Flyers center Christian Dvorak, top right, into Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood, bottom right, in the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

ÅRE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin had a costly mistake near the end of what might have been the fastest run by far in the opening leg of the penultimate World Cup giant slalom of the season Saturday.

In an all-attacking run, the American star was more than half a second ahead of race leader Camille Rast of Switzerland at the last split time when she came off the course shortly before the finish and had to brake to make the next gate.

Shiffrin finished 2.29 seconds off the lead in 12th, as Rast and Austria’s Julia Scheib stood 1-2 to continue their season-long battle for the GS title.

The mishap could help Shiffrin’s main rivals for the overall title — Rast and Germany’s Emma Aicher — make up ground on the American. Aicher was sixth after the opening run.

“I was just not really expecting to get like a kind of a little bit of a jump on this last roller,” said Shiffrin, who started in the 300th World Cup race of her career, a day after her 31st birthday.

“My goal this run was to be really attacking, then I had more speed than I expected," she added. "For the rest of the run, that was the best run in GS skiing I had in a race this year. I’m so happy with that.”

Shiffrin holds the women’s record for most career GS wins with 22 but hasn’t won a race in the discipline since December 2023.

Following two crashes in a downhill and a GS in 2024, Shiffrin has been working her way back up in the discipline and got her first podium result in two years when she placed third at a race in Czechia in January.

On Saturday, Rast held a slim 0.11-second lead over Scheib, with Shiffrin’s teammate Paula Moltzan 0.56 behind in third.

Alice Robinson of New Zealand had 0.60 seconds to make up in the second run and was the last racer to finish within a second of Rast’s time.

Olympic GS champion Federica Brignone ended her season two weeks ago to continue rehab after the Italian returned from a broken leg just weeks before the Games.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

United States' Paula Moltzan speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Austria's Julia Scheib speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Camille Rast speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)