The Flyers' bye week officially ends at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The team will have an afternoon practice in Voorhees before departing for Pittsburgh for a rematch with the Penguins on Friday night. Back on Jan. 21, the Flyers earned a 3-0 shutout win over the Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center behind a 19-save performance by Brian Elliott and a stellar two-way effort up and down the lineup. Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdayk and Justin Braun (empty net) scored.
On Saturday, the Flyers will return home to host the Colorado Avalanche, who will already be in Philadelphia waiting for them. The Avalanche, who last played on Jan. 20, have been on an even longer schedule break than the Flyers.
As of this writing, the Flyers are one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the lower wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, two points (plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind Columbus for the upper wildcard spot, and three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Toronto Maple Leafs are one point behind the Flyers. Philadelphia has one fewer point than the Florida Panthers, who are currently in third place in the Atlantic Division.