Flyers 3 - 4 Avalanche
Final - OT
  for this game

Flyers aim for rare win in Colorado

Dec 31, 2014 - 4:11 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to rebound on their road trip Wednesday night with their first victory in Colorado in 12 years as they take on the Avalanche at Pepsi Center.

The Flyers won the first three of an eight-game swing, but have since lost in Nashville and Arizona, outscored 8-3. They made a game of it late on Monday versus the Coyotes before taking a 4-2 setback.

R.J. Umberger scored twice just over three minutes apart late in the third period to pull Philadelphia within one, but Vincent Lecavalier had a good one- time shot saved with under a minute to play and the Coyotes scored an empty- net tally.

Sean Couturier assisted on both of Umberger's goals and Steve Mason made 21 saves in his first start since Dec. 18.

"It's frustrating to lose the hockey game and come out the way we did," Flyers head coach Craig Berube said. "We haven't risen to the occasion."

Mason had missed the previous four games with a back injury suffered in practice on Dec. 19 and is 6-7-2 in his career versus the Avs with a 3.00 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

Mason made 36 saves, while Claude Giroux scored twice and Jakub Voracek had three assists when the Flyers topped the Avalanche at home on Nov. 8.

Philadelphia, though, has lost six in a row in Colorado, where it has not won since Dec. 27, 2002.

The Avalanche look to avoid a third loss in a row, with their back-to-back defeats following a three-game winning streak. They were shut out last time out, falling 3-0 to Martin Brodeur and the St. Louis Blues.

Brodeur needed to make just 16 saves to deal Colorado its sixth shutout loss of the season, tied with Buffalo for the most in the NHL.

Semyon Varlamov allowed all three goals on 25 shots as the Avs fell to 4-5-3 this month.

"It's clear that we need to do things differently," Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said.

Varlamov is 1-1-1 lifetime versus the Flyers with a 2.81 GAA and .919 save percentage in four meetings with three starts.






Related News