DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov came up big when his teammates needed him most. Bob Dernier Cubs Jersey . It wasnt easy against one of the hottest teams in the league. Varlamov stopped 29 shots, Ryan OReilly and Jamie McGinn each had a goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Thursday night. Steve Mason also had 29 saves and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, who had their four-game winning streak stopped. Philadelphia won the first three on this six-game road trip, scoring four goals in each victory but was stymied by strong goaltending by Colorado. "Sometimes you run into a hot goalie you cant do anything about," forward Scott Hartnell said. The Flyers tried, generating several chances in the final minutes only to be denied. Varlamov had several good stops throughout the game, including one on Hartnell with 3:24 left. It was the second time Varlamov made a big save on the big forward. Mason came off for an extra skater with 1:29 left and Philadelphia had several chances but couldnt get the equalizer against Varlamov. "It seems thats the story every night," McGinn said. "We let him do his thing and weve got to put enough in because we know hes going to give his best." Although Varlamov started his career in the Eastern Conference, he only faced Philadelphia twice before Thursday. He played as if he knew them well, sliding side-to-side to make big saves. Down 1-0, the Flyers had a great chance to tie it on a power play in the first. Steve Downie got behind the Avalanche defence and broke in alone on Varlamov, but the goalie made a pad save to preserve the lead. Varlamov denied Hartnell on a chance early in the second, and then laid out to deny Downie again on a power play with 12:54 left in the middle period. "Downie almost got me with the backhand," Varlamov said. "He has great skill. I was lucky on that one." Two minutes later, OReilly made it 2-0 when his shot went off Mason and over his head into the net. It was his 14th of the season. "It hit me on the top of the right pad, I just bent down and it went over," Mason said. The Flyers broke through when Simmonds slid across the front of the crease and tipped in a shot from defenceman Andrej Meszaros with 6:12 left in the second. It was Simmonds 13th goal of the season. But that was all they could get against Varlamov. They had just three shots through the first 14:30 of the third before putting seven shots on net the rest of the way. Each time, Varlamov was there to make the save. "The first two shifts (of the third) they were in our zone but we weathered that storm and went after them," Hartnell said. "A lot of pucks on net, we were screening goals, peopled driving the net. You do that most games you get rewarded but tonight we got stoned." Colorado took a 1-0 lead midway through the first when McGinn, trailing the play after a Philadelphia turnover, scored off Matt Duchenes rebound. It was McGinns eighth of the season and second in as many games. "They did a good job of driving the net," Colorado coach Patrick Roy said of Duchene and McGinn. The Flyers played most of the game without forward Michael Raffl. Raffl suffered a concussion when he was checked into the boards by Gabriel Landeskog early in the second period. "I didnt think it was a penalty," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Hes against the glass, he hit him, its tough play. I didnt think it was a dirty hit at all." NOTES: Landeskog extended his points streak to five games with his assist on OReillys goal. ... Colorado has won six straight home games against the Flyers. ... Colorado D Ryan Wilson was a late scratch from the lineup. ... Philadelphia C Vincent Lecavalier needs eight goals to reach 400 for his career. ... Avalanche C Paul Stastny was selected to the U.S. Olympic team Wednesday. Addison Russell Cubs Jersey . "Hopefully well get all this out of the way," he said, "and everyone will be healthy the rest of the year." Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and is expected to miss between four to six weeks. Moises Alou Jersey . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2570t-jon-lester-jersey-cubs.html . The New York Rangers centre had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators ending a 13-game goal-scoring drought.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Raptors will look to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2008 when they host the Boston Celtics tonight at the Air Canada Centre in the back end of a home and home. After picking up a rare win in Boston, the Toronto Raptors will be back on familiar ground when they host the Celtics Friday from Air Canada Centre. Terrence Ross led the Raptors with 24 points in a 99-90 triumph, while Kyle Lowry continued his recent tear with 23 and nine rebounds. DeMar DeRozan rounded out the 20-point scorers with exactly that many and Jonas Valanciunas ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which has alternated results in the last six games. The Raptors broke an 11-game losing streak in Boston, last winning there on Jan. 23, 2008. "That was a character test for us," said Toronto head coach Dwane Casey. "I think this team has a lot of character. Situations were not there yet, but again its not from a lack of fight and togetherness." Casey needs three wins to reach 100 victories with the team. The Raptors last posted 40 total wins in a season in 2009-10 (40-42) and the fastest team to reach 40 wins was the 1999-00 squad after 70 games. The current unit needed 71 games to reach the mark. Lowry has scored 19 or more points in each of the last 11 games, averaging 22.5 points in that span. DeRozan is averaging more than 20 points per game against Atlantic Division foes. Toronto leads the division by 2 1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn and is even with Chicago for the third spot in the Easterrn Conference. Sammy Sosa Jersey. Toronto is 21-14 north of the border this season. Boston has lost two in a row and nine of its last 12 games, and was paced by Jared Sullingers 26 points (19 in fourth quarter) and eight rebounds on Wednesday. "Sully (Sullinger) got hot and I thought even though we were really undersized we played pretty well in that time," said Boston head coach Brad Stevens. Avery Bradley had 16 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in nine and 15 assists and Chris Johnson added 13 points off the bench. The Celtics shot 41 percent from the floor and had a 51-7 advantage from their reserves. The Celtics will try to stop an eight-game road losing streak in Toronto and have an 8-26 mark as the visitor. Their previous road win was Feb. 10 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Celtics forward Jeff Green had six points in 20 minutes on Wednesday and is bothered by a stiff neck. Green hopes to play against the Raptors. Rondo needed stitches to close a cut on his forehead and returned to the game to cover Raptors All-Star DeRozan. "I think it obviously says a lot. He wants to play and not only, I think the most important part about it is he came back in and guarded DeRozan (DeMar)," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Rondo. "He went after it and I thought he did a pretty good job on him." Toronto is 2-1 against the Celtics this season, but the latter has prevailed in four of the last seven meetings between the teams. Boston has lost two straight, four of five and five of its last seven trips to Canada. ' ' '