DENVER -- The Philadelphia Flyers were on the verge of another heartbreaking loss when things turned around in a hurry.

Now they are poised to finish off a road trip with a playoff spot in their grasp.

Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux scored 19 seconds apart late in the third period, and Philadelphia beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Thursday in a battle of teams fighting for playoff spots.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ryan White also scored for the Flyers, who kept pace with Detroit in the battle for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings nearly blew a four-goal lead against Montreal but held on to win 4-3 and stay even in points with 85.

Steve Mason had 32 saves for the Flyers (36-24-13), who have a game in hand on Detroit and control their destiny thanks to a late rally that wiped away the sting of losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

"It's huge," Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. "Finally we get to steal a game from someone. It feels like it's always happening to us."

White was awarded a goal in the last five seconds when he was taken down from behind while carrying the puck toward an empty net.

The Flyers' rally came two nights after they blew a two-goal lead in the final 1:04 and lost in a shootout at Columbus. That disappointment was wiped away with three goals in the final 5:43 on Thursday.

"It's funny, you have a tough loss the other night and come back with a big comeback," Mason said. "It's a good feeling."

Nick Holden and John Mitchell scored, and Semyon Varlamov had 41 saves for Colorado, which fell three points behind the Minnesota Wild in the race for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

"We can't get too hung up on this game, as much as it stinks," Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson said. "To let pressure points slip away like that is definitely disheartening. You don't dwell on these things, you have to move on to the next game, and that's what we are going to do."

Colorado played its second consecutive game without its two top scorers. Matt Duchene, who has missed three games, and Nathan MacKinnon are out with knee injuries and won't be back before the weekend.

The weekend is highlighted by the Avalanche's showdown with Minnesota on Saturday afternoon in what might be Colorado's biggest regular-season game of the year. The Wild routed the Calgary Flames 6-2 Thursday. The Avalanche (38-32-4) have played one fewer game.

It looked as if the Avalanche would cut the standings gap on the Wild when Mitchell scored at 6:13 of the third for a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia didn't quit, though, tying it on Gudas' slap shot at 14:17.

Giroux scored on a rebound to make it 3-2.

In a scoreless game early in the second period, Holden had a chance to score when he pinched in and tried to tip a pass from Mikkel Boedker into the open net, but it went wide. Avalanche center Mikhail Grigorenko got the rebound, and his shot went off Holden's skate and past Mason on the short side at 3:05.

It was Holden's fifth of the season.

"It was almost as if their goal sparked us," Mason said. "It looked like we were struggling a little bit, but the boys responded and really took it to them in the last portion of the game."

The Flyers increased the pressure after Holden scored. They got 13 of the next 14 shots on goal and tied it when Bellemare tipped Gostisbehere's shot at 12:36 of the second for his sixth goal of the season.

"I thought we had a bunch of good scoring chances, and I felt like we had them on their heels," Colorado left winger Gabriel Landeskog said. "In the second and in the third, I thought we let up a little too much and gave them too much room."

Philadelphia outshot Colorado 37-19 in the final two periods, 44-34 overall.

NOTES: Avalanche coach Patrick Roy declined to give updates on C Matt Duchene and C Nathan MacKinnon. Both have been ruled out with knee injuries through Saturday's game, and Roy said after Thursday's morning skate he would address their status Sunday. ... Philadelphia C Chris VandeVelde was back in the lineup. VandeVelde, whose two game suspension for elbowing Chicago C Jonathan Toes on March 16 ended last weekend, was scratched against Columbus on Tuesday, the first game he was eligible to play since he was reinstated. ... Roy said for now D Zach Redmond and D Andrew Bodnarchuk would rotate in and out of the lineup. Redmond was in against the Flyers. ... Philadelphia LW Scott Laughton was a healthy scratch for just the fourth time this season.