DENVER — The Flyers were outplayed in Tuesday’s deflating loss in Columbus, but they carried the play for most of Thursday’s game against Colorado.
It paid off with two late goals. Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux scored 19 seconds apart in the third period to rally the Flyers to a 4-2 win over Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ryan White also scored and Steve Mason made 32 saves for the Flyers.
The Flyers, with 85 points, kept pace with Detroit, which beat Montreal, 4-3. The Flyers have a game in hand on the Red Wings but they hold the first tiebreaker (see wild-card standings).
The Flyers turned up the pressure after Nick Holden’s goal gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the second period. They got 13 of the next 14 shots on goal and tied it shortly after Wayne Simmonds nearly scored on a rebound midway through the second when Bellemare tipped Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot from the point past Semyon Varlamov at 12:36 of the period.
After being outshot 15-7 in the first period, the Flyers dominated the chances. But it was Colorado that cashed in early in the third when John Mitchell scored at 6:13.
NHL
The Flyers kept coming, and Gudas’ slapper from the point at 14:17 of the third period beat Varlamov. Giroux scored on a rebound just after to give his team the lead for good.
White was awarded a goal after he was taken down in the final seconds on a breakaway toward the empty net.
The Flyers outshot the Avalanche, 45-34, after allowing 53 shots on goal to the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Goalie report
Mason was tested early but came up with big saves. He made one when Gabriel Landeskog charged the net for a rebound and knocked him over, but Mason held on.
He had to make a surprising save late in the first when teammate Mark Streit’s attempt to send the puck back around the net on a penalty kill went right at Mason, who hugged the post to keep the game scoreless.
After the first 23 minutes, he didn’t have a big workload. Colorado managed just 14 shots on goal after taking a 1-0 lead. Mason came up big when the Avs tried to get the equalizer late.
Power play
On their first power play, the Flyers had one shot, which was one fewer than the Avalanche. Mason had to make two big saves and the crossbar denied Landeskog of a shorthanded goal midway through the Flyers' first chance.
The Flyers generated three shots on their second power play but no goals.
Penalty kill
The Flyers killed off Colorado’s man advantage in the second period, with the Avalanche getting two shots. The Flyers have now killed off 24 of the last 25 power-play opportunities against.
Injury report
No new injuries were reported.
Back in
Chris VandeVelde returned to the lineup after missing three games. VandeVelde was suspended for the first two because of an elbow on Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and was a healthy scratch Tuesday.
He was on the ice for Bellemare's goal.
What's next?
The Flyers conclude their four-game road trip Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes.