Read out of lineup as Flyers try to increase winning streak

DENVER _ Winger Matt Read, who appeared to take an elbow to the head in the Flyers' win in Calgary on Tuesday, will not play in Thursday's contest against Colorado.

Coach Craig Berube said he wanted to give Read (10 goals, 19 points) another day to recover and that there was a chance he will play Saturday in Phoenix.

Jay Rosehill is expected to return to the lineup Thursday, and the Flyers' lines will look like this:

* Claude Giroux centering Michael Raffl and Jake Voracek.

* Brayden Schenn centering Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds.

* Sean Couturier centering Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Downie.

* Adam Hall centering Zac Rinaldo and Rosehill.

Rosehill, who last saw ice time on Dec. 11 in Chicago, will be playing for the first time in the last 10 games.

"It's not ideal," said Rosehill about playing so infrequently, "but it's something a guy in my role has to deal with sometimes. It's mostly mental. We keep ourselves in playing form when we're not playing, and we're always ready. You just try to get back in the mix as fast as you can. Get the first shift out of the way and get back in your groove pretty quickly if you can."

As for Downie, he is expected to move back to the third line after being on the fourth line in the last two games.

In a matchup of 25-year-old goalies with similar numbers, Steve Mason will face the Avs' Semyon Varlamov. Mason is 16-9-4 with a 2.38 GAA and .922 save percentage, while Varlamov is 17-8-4 with a 2.38 GAA and .926 save percentage.

The Flyers have won a season-high four straight games.

Downie and Colorado's Max Talbot will be facing their old teams. They were traded for each other on Oct. 31.

Downie downplayed his return to Denver.

"I haven't really put much thought into it," he said. "My focus has been on trying to help this team win games. It's just another game to get a win."

Talbot, on the other hand, said he was overwhelmed by the trade and that it took him a while to get adjusted. He said the trade was actually more difficult on his fiance than for him. The couple is expecting their first child on Feb. 5.

Breakaways.  Colorado coach Patrick Roy said his biggest concern is trying to contain Giroux. He said either Paul Stastny's line or Matt Duchene's line will be matched against Giroux, and they could alternate.....The Flyers averaged 1.47 goals in their first 15 games. In their last 25 games, they have averaged 3.6 goals per game......Thursday is the 41st game _ the halfway point _ for the Flyers (20-16-4), who are on a 7-1-1 run.

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.