Flyers provide next stop on Avalanche's road trip

AVALANCHE (36-15-5) at FLYERS (28-23-6)

TV: ALT, CSN-PH

Last 10: Colorado 7-3-0; Philadelphia 4-4-2

Season series: It's the second and final time the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche will play this season. On Jan. 2, Jamie McGinn and Ryan O'Reilly had goals in a 2-1 Avalanche victory in Denver.

Big story: The Flyers hope their strong play in a 2-1-0 swing through California last week carries over to their final games before the Olympic break. As one of the teams jammed into the fight for one of the final Eastern Conference playoff spots, every point is vital between now and April. The Avalanche are looking to rebound from a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

Team Scope:

Avalanche: It may have been the second game of a back-to-back set Tuesday, but even after needing overtime to beat the New Jersey Devils on Monday, Colorado coach Patrick Roy wasn't accepting any excuses for his team's loss to the Rangers.

"We talked a lot about the start of this game, that it was key," Roy told the Denver Post after the game. "But the Rangers came out flying. They got the momentum from the first shift and kept it until the end of the first."

The Rangers scored twice in that period and the Avalanche never were able to recover. They were unable to build on Gabriel Landeskog's goal at 6:37 of the second period, allowing the Rangers to score 53 seconds later.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot there in the second," Landeskog told the Denver Post. "We had the chance there to get back in it."

Flyers: Defenseman Kimmo Timonen skated with his teammates Wednesday at practice and again Thursday at the morning skate. He will play against the Avalanche after missing the previous two games with a foot injury sustained Jan. 31 against the Anaheim Ducks.

"I feel pretty good," Timonen said. "… It's going the right way and I feel pretty good. It's a good feeling."

Who's hot: Landeskog, the Avalanche's captain, has three goals and six assists during a seven-game point streak. … Flyers captain Claude Giroux has four goals and nine points in his past five games.

Injury report: Avalanche defenseman Cory Sarich (back) is out. Forward Alex Tanguay (knee) is questionable. … With Timonen (foot) back, the Flyers are fully healthy.

Follow Adam Kimelman on Twitter: @NHLAdamK