The Avalanche can enhance their playoff chances and put some pressure on St. Louis if they can win Thursday in San Jose in the final road game of the regular season.
The
GAME NOTES.
They remain in the second wild card position in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Blues, who turned a 3-1 lead against Chicago on Wednesday into a stinging 4-3 regulation loss.
An Avalanche win against the Sharks, who have lost four games in a row (0-3-1), would force the Blues to earn at least a point Friday at Chicago to set up a Saturday showdown at the Pepsi Center for that final playoff berth.
A win against the Sharks coupled with a regulation loss by the Blues on Friday would clinch a playoff spot for Colorado. The Avalanche have gone 1-3-1 in the past five games.
“We still have to take care of our own business,” Avalanche coach
Jared Bednar told reporters after the morning skate. “We’ve been talking about that for a long time. Hopefully (the Blues’ loss Wednesday) will help relieve some pressure that’s been on us here a little bit playing first. Now they lost last night, if we win tonight we put some pressure on them going into the last two games.”
Jonathan Bernier will start again for the Avalanche. He was in goal for both previous games against the Sharks this season, a 5-3 win Jan. 18 and a 3-1 win Feb. 6; both games were played at the Pepsi Center.
Bednar said that defenseman
Mark Barberio will be a game-time decision. He’s healthy again and practicing but hasn’t played since Jan. 23 against Montreal.
Probable Avalanche lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost – Alexander Kerfoot – Sven Andrighetto
Matt Nieto – Carl Soderberg – Blake Comeau
Colin Wilson – J.T. Compher – Gabriel Bourque
Nikita Zadorov – Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth – Samuel Girard
David Warsofsky/Mark Barberio – Mark Alt
Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond
*****
The Avalanche on Thursday announced they have signed center
Josh Dickinson to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning with the 2018-19 season. He will report to San Antonio for the remainder of this season on an amateur tryout basis.
The 6-feet-2, 190-pound Dickinson, 20, completed his freshman season with Clarkson University, where he had 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists) in 40 games.
Dickinson, who is from Georgetown, Ontario, spent the three previous seasons with the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and was captain in 2016-17. He had 142 career points (56 goals, 86 assists) in 153 games.
He helped Georgetown win the Buckland Cup as OHL champions in 2016-17 with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 22 playoff games.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
Join the Discussion:
»