Another big game for the Avalanche. Aren’t they all?
This will continue to be the case until they clinch a playoff spot or are eliminated from contention.
Next stop: Thursday in Dallas.
The Avalanche trail Arizona by two points for the second wild card playoff position in the Western Conference and would move into a tie with a regulation or overtime win against the Stars if the Coyotes don’t gain a point in their road game against Florida.
It’s also an important game for Dallas, which has a four-point lead over Arizona for the first wild card and is two points behind St. Louis, which holds third place in the Central Division. The Avalanche will use the same lineup they did in the past two games, wins against New Jersey and Minnesota, so Philipp Grubauer will make his third consecutive start with the chance to seize control of the net, if he hasn’t already.
Grubauer has allowed five goals in his past six starts with three shutouts and is coming off a 36-save effort in the Avalanche’s 3-1 win against the Wild on Tuesday.
Stars goalie Ben Bishop has won six starts in a row with three shutouts, a 0.55 goals-against average and .980 save percentage. He had 31 saves in a 4-0 win against the Avalanche on March 7, when he backed into Gabriel Landeskog behind the net; Landeskog sustained an upper-body injury and will miss the rest of the regular season.
FYI: A.J. Greer, who was recalled from the Colorado Eagles on Monday, has been reassigned to the AHL team.
The lineup;
Derick Brassard -- Nathan MacKinnon -- J.T. Compher Colin Wilson -- Carl Soderberg -- Mikko Rantanen Alexander Kerfoot -- Tyson Jost -- Matt Calvert Gabriel Bourque -- Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov -- Patrik Nemeth Ryan Graves
Philipp Grubauer Semyon Varlamov