The Colorado Avalanche pulled out a come-from-behind, 3-2 shootout win over Chicago Wednesday night to improve their regular-season record to 46-26-4. The win was the Avs' fifth win in their past seven games, but with the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets still playing well, Colorado is likely to finish the season in third place in the highly-competiive Central Division.
Still, the Avalanche need to thrive in their final six games in order to go into the Stanley Cup playoffs on a high note. And a look at their final six opponents demonstrates that the Avs will face a tough test before the post-season arrives.
Colorado has a desperate Blue Jackets team to deal with Thursday night in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have won three of their past four games, and they can move into a tie with Montreal for the second and final wild card berth with a victory over the Avalanche. The Avs lost to the Jackets 6-4 in their previous meeting this season, but that was in Colorado's second game of the year. The Avalanche should fare considerably better this time around.
The Avs get a day off after Thursday's tilt, but they're right back into the fire Saturday as they take on the white-hot Blues in St. Louis. The Blues have won 10 straight games, and on Thursday, they host the sad-sack Pittsburgh Penguins, so 11 straight wins is very possible for them. St. Louis doesn't want to take its foot off the gas, as they could overtake the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, so Colorado should expect a fierce fight from the Blues on Saturday.
Then, next Tuesday, the Avalanche host the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas doesn't quite have first place in the Pacific Division locked up, with the Los Angeles Kings currently five standings points behind the Golden Knights. Vegas just had a six-game win streak snapped by the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, so they'll be motivated to get back on the winning side of the ledger, but they have three road games against Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver before taking on the Avs.
A week from today, the Avalanche will host the Canucks, whose playoff dreams are all but dead after their latest loss to Seattle. Vancouver may be eliminated from playoff contention by the time Colorado takes them on, so this game may be relatively easy for the Avalanche to win.
Three Takeaways From Avalanche's 3-2 Loss To The Calgary FlamesThe Colorado Avalanche suffered their second straight loss Monday, falling to the Calgary Flames by a 3-2 score in a shootout. Here are three key takeaways from the Avs' loss, which dropped Colorado's season record to 45-26-4:
Finally, the Avs wrap up the regular season with back-to-back road games against the Kings on Sat. April 12, and Anaheim Sun. April 13. By then, it could be a tale of two different opponents for Colorado, as the Kings could be fighting off Edmonton for second place in the Pacifc -- or challenging Vegas for first place in the Pacific. But on the other hand, the Ducks will be eliminated from the playoffs well before that final game against the Avalanche, so you could see Avs coach Jared Bednar giving some rest to his veterans if there's nothing really to play for in that Sunday game.
As you can see, the road ahead for Colorado is not going to be easy. They may be stuck in third spot in the Central and be set to face the Stars in Round One. But they're going to be tested multiple times before then -- and the way they respond to those challenges could help determine how they perform when the playoff games arrive.