Tyson Barrie remembers that March 15 game against Anaheim all too well, a 5-3 loss on home ice that left the Avalanche five points behind Arizona for the second wild card playoff position.
“It seemed pretty bleak there,… Barrie said Friday. “I mean, that was a tough one for us. That was a game we thought we needed. Obviously, we found a way to kind of climb out of that. The boys are feeling good right now. It’s a fun time to be playing hockey.…
Guess so. The Avalanche responded with a 3-0 win against New Jersey two days later, the start of a 10-game points streak (8-0-2) that culminated in a Stanley Cup Playoff-clinching 3-2 overtime win on Erik Johnson’s goal against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday before a roaring crowd at the Pepsi Center.
They close out regular-season play Saturday in San Jose.
My NHL.com PLAYOFF-CLINCHING STORY
“We all knew the situation we were in and we’d have to play well, play our way out of the hole we dug ourselves,… Barrie said. “It was too bad we played so poorly in January and in February; we kind of took ourselves out of the running. For us to be able to come back and put a stretch like this together at the most important time of the year shows a lot of character.
“I think it did snowball a little bit, winning a couple and winning a couple more, and then the confidence just comes around. You go into games wondering if you’re going to win to knowing you’re going to win. That’s a great feeling.…
There's some nasty weather in the forecast.
— NHL (@NHL) April 5, 2019
Count the @Avalanche in for the #StanleyCup Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/BUHe6mlBW5
The Avalanche have gotten excellent goaltending from Philipp Grubauer, who made 34 saves against the Jets on Thursday and has gone 7-0-2 in his past nine starts, allowing 16 goals in the streak. Semyon Varlamov helped the cause Tuesday, knocking off the rust after a two-week layoff to stop 27 shots in a 6-2 win against Edmonton.
The Avalanche have gotten offensive contributions from everybody, none more than Barrie, who has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the past 10 games and 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in the past 15.
He has career highs for goals (14), assists (45) and points (59), the most points by an Avalanche defenseman since Ray Bourque had 59 in 2000-01. Sandis Ozolinsh holds the Colorado record for points by a defenseman in a season with 68, set in 1996-97.
“I’m not sure if I’m doing anything super differently, but when things start going in, you’re playing well and you get confidence out of that,… Barrie said. “Maybe you’re jumping more. Confidence goes such a long way in this sport, and it makes it a lot of fun when you’re playing with confidence. I feel like I have that right now. It’s nice to see things going in.…
They played the last seven games without injured Mikko Rantanen, their second leading scorer with 87 points (31 goals, 56 assists) after going 6-2-1 when captain Gabriel Landeskog missed nine games with a shoulder injury.
Rantanen has resumed skating and might be available when the playoffs begin as early as Wednesday, probably in Calgary. The Avalanche trail Dallas by one point for the first wild card, but the Stars only need one point with two games left to secure that position.
Rantanen and Vladislav Kamenev were among the handful of players to take part in a very optional on-ice session Friday.
Two red non-contact jerseys, too.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/yziWzWZjTE
— x- Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 5, 2019
Barrie started the comeback from a 2-0 deficit Thursday – the Avalanche have rallied from two goals down in three straight games – at 5:17 of the second period with a short side goal from a sharp angle and Carl Soderberg tied matters with 9:35 left in the third period by deflecting in Tyson Jost’s shot.
The Avalanche had to kill off a too-many-men penalty for the final 1:26 of regulation to get to overtime and gain the playoff-clinching point.
“That was a bit more dramatic than I think we hoped for, but it was such a cool feeling when the (end of regulation) buzzer did go,… Barrie said. “We had a whole celebration on the bench and the game was not even over yet.
"It was an interesting one, but it was a lot of fun and to get the extra point with EJ getting a big goal in the overtime was great and just kind of capped off a great night for us.…