The set-up: The Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime last night in Dallas, making it three straight road games in which the Flyers have gone beyond regulation without coming away with a "W." However, the Flyers extended their point streak to six games and maintained their hold on the first wild card in the Eastern Conference with five games remaining (90 points). Also, the 38-25-14 Flyers can move past Columbus (91 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division with a victory tonight in Denver. As for the 41-27-8 Avalanche (90 points), they fell out of a wild-card spot in the West on Tuesday (Blues and Ducks have 91 points) but hope to regain it and pull within two points of Minnesota for third in the Central Division by defeating Philadelphia. Colorado is coming off a split of a home-and-home series against Pacific-leading Vegas, posting a 2-1 shootout win at home Saturday before falling 4-1 on the road Monday in Las Vegas. The Avalanche look to complete a sweep of the two-game season series, as they edged the Flyers 5-4 in a shootout way back on Nov. 4 in Philly.

Philadelphia: Captain Claude Giroux leads the team with 92 points (26 goals), and is riding a five-game point streak during which he has collected nine assists to set a career high of 66. He is one point shy of matching the personal best he recorded in 2011-12 and has not been kept off the scoresheet in back-to-back games since Feb. 3 and 6. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (59 points) has been a major factor in the team's offense of late, posting back-to-back two-assist performances to give him three two-point efforts over his last four games and a total of nine points in his last eight contests. Sean Couturier leads the team with 31 goals.

Colorado: This has been quite a season for Colorado, after the Avs won just 22 games last year and finished with an NHL-worst 48 points. Colorado is the first team to make a 40-point improvement from its previous season since Pittsburgh went from 58 in 2005-06 to 105 the following campaign. However, there is still work to be done if Colorado wants to make the playoffs. The Avalanche have just three regulation goals in their last three games and leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon (92 points, including 34 goals) has been held off the scoresheet for two straight games, the first time he hasn't recorded a point in consecutive contests since Dec. 23 and 27. Center Alexander Kerfoot needs one point to break a tie with T.J. Galiardi (39) and become the 10th-highest scoring rookie in team history. The Avs are 26-10-2 at home this season, outscoring opponents 3.53-to-2.47 GPG.

The pick: The Flyers are in a solid position to make the playoffs. However, they had a chance to catch and pass the Penguins over the past two games but fell to the defending champions in overtime Sunday before losing again in overtime Tuesday. Philadelphia's 14 losses after regulation are the most in the NHL this season. Meanwhile, despite the 42-point (and counting) improvement, the Avs sit outside the playoffs after St. Louis won its sixth in a row Tuesday night. That said, Colorado is just ONE point behind the Blues and Anaheim Ducks. The Avs aren't worrying about what other teams are doing, they feel they control their own fate. Colorado is in a tenuous spot with six games remaining. The Avalanche have lost two of their last three games, so beating Philadelphia on home ice is almost a must if they want to complete an incredible turnaround from a season ago.They do just that here. Make Colorado a 10* play.