The Colorado Avalanche know exactly what they need to do Saturday at the Pepsi Center to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs:
Beat the St. Louis Blues in regulation.
The
GAME NOTES.
If it means replacing goalie
Jonathan Bernier with a sixth skater in a tie game late in the third period, coach
Jared Bednar won’t have a choice.
“Absolutely,” he said after the morning skate. “I’ve never been in that situation before, but that’s what the circumstances call for. Hopefully we’re not tied, hopefully we’re up.”
The Blues have 94 points and 41 regulation/overtime wins (ROW), the Avalanche have 93 points and 40 ROW. The Blues need one point to earn the second wild card playoff position in the Western Conference because if the teams finish tied with 95 points and 41 ROW, they own the next tiebreaker, the edge in head-to-head play.
Just getting to overtime would get them a point, so the Avalanche can’t let that happen.
“I think if before the season somebody said we would need to win the last game to get into the playoffs, I think everybody would’ve taken it,”
Nathan MacKinnon said. “Nobody would’ve thought this is even possible for us to be this far, but we’re excited for it.”
The Avalanche obviously would have preferred to have secured a playoff spot, but they’ve gone 1-4-1 in the past six games. The Blues ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) Friday with a 4-1 win against Chicago to grab the second wild card. For now, at least.
“We’re still in a good position to decide our own destiny,” MacKinnon said.
Captain
Gabriel Landeskog said the game will be fun despite the pressure involved. It's also Fan Appreciation Night.
“We’ve had the same mindset since basically the All-Star break,” he said. “We’ve had a kind of do-or-die attitude every game. We’ve been doing it for a long time and I think it’s definitely helped us prepare for this.”
The Avalanche are 27-11-2 at home and need a win to match the franchise record of 28 set by the 2000-01 Stanley Cup championship team. But the Blues have been excellent on the road, going 20-14-6.
Landeskog said fan support has exceeded all expectations.
“It’s been awesome,” he said. “Having a chance to go to the playoffs and knowing that it’s going to be sold out, and the whole town is cheering us on, it’s going to mean a lot for us. Now it’s just a matter of going out there and having fun and playing hockey.”
The Avalanche will need the Landeskog-MacKinnon-
Mikko Rantanen line to come up big. Rantanen has two goals and an assist in the past four games, but Landeskog and MacKinnon have gone nine games without a goal; Landeskog has three assists in this stretch, MacKinnon six assists.
“(MacKinnon) is the driving force to our offense, everybody knows it,” Bednar said. “He’s been extremely consistent, him and his linemates. Our team follows those guys. At home they’ve been even better than they’ve been on the road, so hopefully they have a big night tonight.”
The Avalanche will have one lineup change, with defenseman
Mark Alt replacing
David Warsofsky.
The 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
Mark Barberio – Mark Alt
Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond
*****
Bednar has been deeply affected by Friday’s tragedy in which 14 people were killed and 14 hospitalized when the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team was involved in a horrific accident while traveling to a game in Saskatchewan.
“That’s my hometown, I grew up in Humboldt,” he said Saturday. “My dad was stationed there twice. The bulk of my childhood was in that city. I grew up as a young guy dreaming to play for the Broncos. I had that opportunity as a teenager, and then moved up to the Western League.
“I know what that team means to that town. A friend’s son is a goaltender for the Broncos, and he survived. He went to surgery last night in Saskatoon and hopefully he’s doing better. It’s a tough time for that town. It’s a tight-knit community, only 6,000 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to them for sure.”
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