PHILADELPHIA -- After finishing with the NHL's worst record last season, the Colorado Avalanche are beginning to look like a team that could shake up the Western Conference playoff picture.

"There's definitely a different feeling," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after seeing Mikko Rantanen score one goal in regulation and another to win the shootout in Colorado's 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night. "The work has just begun but I do like the way our guys are digging in and trying to build an identity. We took another step tonight."

Matt Duchene, Blake Comeau and Nail Yakupov also scored for the Avalanche (8-5-0), who won their third straight game and their fourth in five games. Last season the Avalanche finished an NHL-worst 22-56-4, including 11 losses in their final 13 games.

Jakub Voracek, Valtteri Filppula, Dale Weise and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers (7-6-2), who lost for the third time in four games.

Michal Neuvirth made 23 saves for Philadelphia and fell to 2-3-1.

The biggest difference for Colorado this season has been the play of goaltender Semyon Varlamov. Injuries limited the 29-year-old netminder to 24 games last season, but after stopping 57 shots in a win over Carolina on Thursday, Varlamov was sharp against the Flyers with 33 saves.

Varlamov made a pair of stops on left winger Giroux in the overtime period before turning aside two of three attempts in the shootout to improve to 6-3-0.

"He played a great game again," Rantanen said. "He made some unbelievable saves and was sharp on the shootouts. There were chances all around and Varly played an unbelievable game in net and kept us in it."

The Avalanche also had a big night on special teams, getting a shorthanded goal from Comeau and power-play goals from Duchene and Rantanen. They also killed off five of the Flyers' six power plays.

"Give them credit, they played a good road game," Voracek said. "It was a tough game for us. Own goal, deflections. But we didn't get down on ourselves."

Duchene opened the scoring with his first power-play goal of the season with 1.6 seconds remaining in the first period.

The Flyers grabbed a 2-1 lead early in the second period on Filppula's sixth goal of the season and Giroux's eighth goal and his third on the power play.

The game turned with 4:30 remaining in the second period during a Philadelphia power play. Comeau raced down the left wing and ripped a wrist shot off the skate of Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and past Neuvirth's catching glove to tie the score. It was Comeau's third goal of the season and the Avalanche's second shorthanded goal of the season.

A fortuitous bounce gave Colorado a 3-2 lead with 3:47 remaining in the second period. Rantanen tried a centering pass but it went off Philadelphia rookie defenseman Robert Hagg's stick and behind Neuvirth for the go-ahead goal.

The Flyers tied the score early in the third period when Voracek poked in a Sean Couturier rebound for his third goal of the season at the 4:33 mark. Colorado came right back to tie it 64 seconds later when Duchene stripped defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere of the puck and fed Yakupov, who beat Neuvirth between the pads for his fourth goal of the season.

"I'd like to not turn the puck over there and, if possible, get a save there," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "But that was the type of game it was and we just had to keep fighting in this game and top to bottom I thought we did that."

Weise tied the score a minute later when he finished off a pass by Jordan Weal for his fourth of the season.

NOTES: Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an upper body injury. Rookie C Nolan Patrick sat out his sixth straight game with an upper-body injury. He skated with the club on Saturday morning and is hoping to be in the lineup when the Flyers return to action on Thursday night after a four-day break in the schedule. Philadelphia D Radko Gudas missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Backup G Jonathan Bernier is expected to be in goal when the Avalanche visit the New York Islanders on Sunday. Colorado will then travel to Stockholm, Sweden, for two games against the Ottawa Senators on Friday and Saturday.