It's been nearly a calendar year since the Avalanche won three consecutive games. They'll have that opportunity Saturday against Ottawa at the Pepsi Center.
Here are the
GAME NOTES.
When the Avalanche defeated Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton from March 16-20 last season, they were in position to make the playoffs. Colorado promptly lost eight of the final nine games, setting the stage for this season's disaster.
It was lost long ago, but the Avalanche will be officially eliminated from playoff contention Saturday with a loss to the Senators, or if St. Louis gains a point against the New York Islanders at home.
The Blues have 34 wins and 73 points, the Avalanche 19 wins and 41 points; both have 16 games to go. Colorado would need to win out the rest of the way just to get to 73 points, and every team ahead of the Blues already is out of reach.
The way this season has gone, a mere three-game winning streak would be a monumental accomplishment.
"We're being positive, celebrating little things,"
Calvin Pickard said after he made 25 saves Thursday in a 3-2 win against New Jersey. "We've been working hard and playing our game, and when we do that we're going to have success."
The Avalanche are 2-1-0 in the first three games of their four-game homestand and 3-1-0 in the past four at the Pepsi Center.
They didn't practice Friday or skate Saturday.
The expected lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque
Sven Andrighetto -- Matt Duchene -- Mikko Rantanen
John Mitchell -- J.T. Compher -- Blake Comeau
Mikhail Grigorenko -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Nieto
DEFENSE
Mark Barberio -- Erik Johnson
Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin -- Patrick Wiercioch
GOALIES
Calvin Pickard
Jeremy Smith
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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