Avalanche 2, Flyers 1
DENVER -- Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 29 saves, center Ryan O'Reilly scored the winning goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Thursday night.
Left wing Jamie McGinn also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two straight.
Right winger Wayne Simmons scored and goalie Steve Mason stopped 29 shots for Philadelphia.
The red-hot Flyers came into Denver having won four straight and six of seven. They won the first three of their current six-game road trip but ran into a hot goalie to stop their momentum.
Philadelphia stepped up its pressure in the third but couldn't generate many chances. The best came when center Brayden Schenn had a tip in front, but Varlamov made the save.
Left winger Scott Hartnell had a great chance later in the period before Mason came off for an extra skater with 1:29 remaining.
Brayden Schenn had a strong shot from the point that Varlamov smothered.
The Avalanche went up 1-0 when Philadelphia center Sean Couturier turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson picked it up and carried it into the Flyers zone. He sent a centering pass to Duchene, and McGinn cleaned up the rebound for his eighth goal of the year and second in as many games.
The Flyers had a great chance to tie it on the power play when right winger Steve Downie broke in alone on Varlamov, but the goalie made the save.
Downie had another chance on a power play early in the second, but Varlamov stopped him on the doorstep to keep it a one-goal lead.
The Avalanche struck again when O'Reilly's shot went off Mason and over the goalie's shoulder to give Colorado a 2-0 lead midway through the second. It was O'Reilly's 14th of the season.
The Flyers finally broke through later in the period on Simmons' 13th goal of the season.
The Flyers lost left winger Michael Raffl to a concussion early in the second when he took a hit from left winger Gabriel Landeskog early in the second.
NOTES: Colorado Ds Ryan Wilson and Tyson Barrie were healthy scratches. ... Avalanche C Paul Stastny said he was "thrilled" to be selected to the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Sochi next month but was disappointed his teammate, D Erik Johnson, was not included. "He's always played well on the big sheet. It's a bummer for him," Stastny said. "I was hoping we'd be able to go together." ... Heading into Thursday's game, Flyers RW Steve Downie needed one assist to reach 100 for his career. ... Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog carried a four-game points streak (three goals/two assists) into Thursday's game. ... Philadelphia LW Michael Raffl was the only Flyer invited to play in next month's Olympics. He will represent Austria. ... Thursday's game was Colorado's 1,400th since the franchise relocated to Denver in 1995.
