Preview: Flyers at Avalanche

FLYERS (18-10-3) at AVALANCHE (11-15-1)
10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TCN-PH, NHL.TV

Flyers team scope

Goalie Steve Mason will start for the Philadelphia Flyers, who have won nine in a row, the fourth-longest streak in their history. Mason has won an NHL career-best seven straight starts. He has a 2.23 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in those games. The Flyers have outscored opponents 32-19 during their streak. "I think it's about believing in how you play, how your system's going," captain Claude Giroux said. "We just believe that we can win every game. You need to be on every game; if you're not on one night, it's not going to be pretty. We're believing in how we play. We're not changing our game whatever the score is or however the game is going. We're sticking to our game plan." Coach Dave Hakstol said it's too early to start looking at the NHL standings, but the Flyers enter play Wednesday with the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. "You're just trying to gain points every night," he said. "I don't make too much about how many in a row the number is one way or another. The first goal on the list is to be a playoff team. Points every night are critical."

Avalanche team scope

Goaltender Calvin Pickard will start for the Colorado Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov is out because of a groin injury he sustained making 51 saves in a 3-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Spencer Martin will be the backup after being recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League. The Avalanche are 0-4-1 in their past five games at Pepsi Center, 4-8-1 this season. "We've got to find a way to scrape up some points on home ice," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "This hasn't been good enough so far, and it's not going to be good enough if we keep this going. We need to come out a little [angry]. We come out sometimes flat, and there's no excuse for that." Coach Jared Bednar said he's looking forward to the challenge the Flyers present. "It's an opportunity for us to kind of make a statement," he said. "We haven't played that well in front of our fans here at home, and we're playing the hottest team in the League. We have something to prove, and that's the way we need to approach it." Right wing Jarome Iginla needs one point for 1,281 in his NHL career, which would tie Alex Delvecchio for 34th place all-time.

Flyers projected lineup

Michael Raffl -- Claude Giroux -- Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny -- Brayden Schenn -- Wayne Simmonds
Nick Cousins -- Boyd Gordon -- Dale Weise
Chris VandeVelde -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Roman Lyubimov
Ivan Provorov -- Andrew MacDonald
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Radko Gudas
Brandon Manning -- Michael Del Zotto
Steve Mason
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Taylor Leier, Nick Schultz
Injured: Sean Couturier (lower body), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Matt Read (upper body), Mark Streit (shoulder)

Avalanche projected lineup:

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque
Mikhail Grigorenko -- Matt Duchene -- Mikko Rantanen
Blake Comeau -- John Mitchell -- Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod -- Carl Soderberg -- Andreas Martinsen
Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin -- Eric Gelinas
Nikita Zadorov -- Patrick Wiercioch
Calvin Pickard
Spencer Martin
Scratched: Cody Goloubef
Injured: Joe Colborne (lower body), Semyon Varlamov (groin)

Status report

Gostisbehere will play after missing one game because of a hand injury. Streit is expected to miss two weeks after he was injured against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Couturier and Read skated Wednesday for the first time since each was injured. Couturier will miss his 12th game, Read his fourth.

Who's hot

Schenn has four goals in his past two games. Simmonds has four goals and two assists in the past five games. Voracek has four goals and 11 assists in the past nine games. Giroux has five goals and seven assists in the past 10 games. ... MacKinnon has three goals and one assist during a four-game point streak. Duchene has three goals and one assist in the past four games. Comeau has a goal in each of the past two games.