The Avalanche, most whom have yet to experience the Stanley Cup playoffs, got a taste of what it could be like Saturday in a thoroughly entertaining 2-1 shootout win against Vegas before a raucous sellout crowd of 18,042 at the Pepsi Center.
If the Avalanche can hang onto the first wild card playoff position in the Western Conference, it very well could have been a first-round preview.
Make no mistake, the Golden Knights are for real. They're fast, extremely aggressive on defense, and three-time Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury is having yet another excellent season in goal.
Still, if the Avalanche do enough in the final seven regular-season games to secure a playoff berth, they'd be better off meeting Vegas in the opening round than Nashville or Winnipeg.
Not that any players are thinking any further ahead than Monday's rematch in Las Vegas.
"That would be a blast, but we're not going to get ahead of ourselves," said captain Gabriel Landeskog, who scored the lone shootout goal Saturday. "We're not going to start looking ahead. We know we have seven games left to make sure that we polish up things and ultimately get wins and get points because we're going to need all of them at this point. We're going to stay within the process like we talked about all season long."
The Avalanche have 90 points with 39 regulation/overtime wins and have a one-point lead over suddenly surging St. Louis, which also has 39 ROW; the teams play at the Pepsi Center in the April 7 regular-season finale.
The Avalanche were two points behind Minnesota, third in the Central Division, before the Wild played Boston on Sunday night. Los Angeles trails the Avalanche by one point, has 39 ROW and has played one more game.
Colorado hasn't been in the playoffs since Patrick Roy's first season behind the bench in 2013-14 when it finished first in the division and lost a seven-game series to Minnesota in the first round.
Returning to the postseason would be especially satisfying after last year's humiliating 48-point finish.
"We've had enough springs where we're getting our golf clubs ready instead of playing in the springtime when it's the best time of the year," Landeskog said. "Once you go there, I think everyone will see what the hype's all about, why everyone talks about playoff time and why it's so important to just get in.
"I think our mindset is we're going to go to the playoffs. It's not good enough for us to just be in the middle of it and be in the mix. We want to keep raising the bar and getting to the playoffs. I think it would be good for the young guys, myself included. We've only been there once. Once you get into the playoff dance, anything can happen."
Especially if goalie Semyon Varlamov can continue to put on the kind of show he did Saturday, stopping 39 of 40 shots through regulation and overtime, and all three shots he faced in the shootout.
Varlamov had a huge bounce-back game after he allowed five goals on 20 shots Thursday and got the hook in the second period in the Avalanche's 7-1 loss to the Kings. Varlamov will play in his 21st consecutive game Monday, his 19th start in this stretch, and he hardly looked tired Saturday. Good thing, too, since Jonathan Bernier has an infection from a cut, prompting the Avalanche to recall Spencer Martin from San Antonio again.
"I feel pretty good. What can I say?" Varlamov said. "I'm going to feel even better if we make the playoffs. That's why we're here, we want to make the playoffs. That's why were battling every game."
He also enjoyed being serenaded with "Var-ly, Var-ly" chants from the sellout crowd.
“I love it," he said. "It’s the best feeling when the fans are cheering your name. It’s the best feeling. That’s what we play for, that’s what we train for. It’s very exciting and I want to say thank you to the fans. We really appreciate it. It was a great atmosphere. I felt like we played like a playoff game.…
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Forwards Sven Andrighetto and Colin Wilson have lower-body injuries, and coach Jared Bednar chose to dress seven defensemen rather than play either Vladislav Kamenev and Nail Yakupov, who was scratched for the seventh game in a row.
Enter defenseman Mark Alt, who was claimed on waivers from Philadelphia on Feb. 26 and made his Avalanche debut. He played well enough that he could warrant another game Monday. He played 10:58 -- seven minutes more than Duncan Siemens -- and had two hits and a blocked shot.
"Alt has been looking real good at practice," Bednar said. "I like the way he moves the puck, good details, plays with pace. And we brought him in, I want to make sure we aren't missing something there. He played a really good game for us.
"He's a right-handed shot, he can get his shot through to the net. He moved the puck efficiently, defended hard, smart player, kind of what we saw in practice. I want to give him a crack and see if he can step in and help our team win."