Eurolanche

Avs Face Red-Hot Flyers At Pepsi Center

After a four-game road trip and a 10-day hiatus from games at Pepsi Center, the Colorado Avalanche returns home to host the red-hot Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

Colorado finished the road trip on a good note, topping the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Sunday to finish the swing 2-2-0. The Flyers enter Wednesday's tilt as the hottest team in the league, having won their last nine games.

The Avs have a 16-7-6 all-time record against the Flyers and are 9-2-5 on home ice in the series. Colorado has won seven of the last eight at home in the series.

Head coach Jared Bednar emphasized consistency following practice at Family Sports Center on Tuesday, as the Avalanche aims to find its groove at Pepsi Center.

"I think we're always looking at areas where we can improve. Basically, we look at the things that cost us scoring chances. We show some of those things as a coaching staff, and then we also show things on the flip side where we do things right and we make hard plays with the puck and we execute and it leads to scoring chances and offensive zone time and that's how we teach it," Bednar said. "We just want to make sure we're getting more consistent at that. Sometimes that's focus, sometimes it's execution, sometimes it's a little bit of both, but I think we've showed areas of improvement on certain nights. We have to do it all the time every night."

Last Time Out Semyon Varlamov made 51 saves to lead the Avalanche to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night. Colorado was 2-for-4 on the power play, getting man-advantage goals from Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, who extended his point streak to four games.

The Flyers opened a three-game road trip with a 1-0 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Anthony Stolarz stopped all 28 shots he faced, and Brayden Schenn potted the overtime winner.

Last Time They Met

The Avs and the Flyers last clashed on March 24, 2016, a 4-2 Philadelphia win at Pepsi Center. Semyon Varlamov finished with 41 saves, but the Flyers notched three goals in the third period, including two in a 19-second span, to take the win.

What to Watch

Avs Back at Home

It's been 10 days since the last game at Pepsi Center, and through this point in the season the Avalanche has fared better on the road, where it's posted a 7-7-0 record, than it has within the friendly confines, where Colorado is 4-8-1. The team is looking to improve in front of the hometown crowd, starting with this two-game homestand.

"I think it's taking a little page from what we've been doing on the road, a little bit of a simpler game, not trying to get too fancy with the puck," Bednar said. "It takes a full-team effort in order to get it done, and I think that our focus has been a little better on the road than it's been at home, so that's our challenge tomorrow, especially with a team like Philly that's the hottest team in the league."

Duchene Moving Up

Matt Duchene recorded his 166th career goal in Colorado's win over the Boston Bruins last Thursday, which tied him with Valeri Kamensky for eighth on the franchise's all-time list. He's one tally shy of matching Alex Tanguay for seventh place.

Philly Power Play

The Flyers have scored more power-play goals (28) than any team in the league and rank second with a 24.1 overall rate of success with the man advantage. Philadelphia has four players ranked in the top five in the NHL in power-play points.

Claude Giroux (15) and Wayne Simmonds' (14) points rank first and second, while Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek's 13 power-play points rank fifth. Simmonds leads the league with eight man-advantage tallies.

Player to Watch

Colorado: Center Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon enters Wednesday's game riding a four-game point streak. He totaled five points (three goals, two assists) through Colorado's four-game road trip and leads the Avalanche with 12 assists and 20 points this season.

Philadelphia: Right wing Jakub Voracek

The league's leading scorer over the past week, Voracek earned the NHL's First Star of the Week (Dec. 5-11) after posting six assists and nine points in three games, including back-to-back four-point performances.

Lineup Notes

Calvin Pickard will get the nod in net, which will mark his first career game against the Flyers. Spencer Martin, who was recalled from San Antonio (AHL) on Tuesday, will back up, as Semyon Varlamov is out with a groin injury. Bednar said Varlamov is day-to-day and doesn't see his injury as a long-term concern.

The Details

Wednesday's game between the Flyers and the Avalanche starts at 8 p.m. MT, and tickets are still available. Fans can watch live on NBC Sports Network, as the matchup is part of the network's Wednesday Night Rivalry programming. Those looking to listen in can do so on Altitude Sports Radio AM950 or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.

--by Danielle Bernstein for ColoradoAvalanche.com--