The countdown to the end of the Avalanche's season of misery continues Sunday in Chicago against the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
It's the second game of a back-to-back set, following a third-period collapse and 5-1 loss in Detroit on Saturday in the Avalanche's final game at Joe Louis Arena, which will be replaced by Little Caesars Arena next season.
"A big, painful third period," said goalie Calvin Pickard, who allowed four third-period goals on 11 shots. "Once they got one then they started feeling it, and we just had no answer for it."
Pickard has started the past five games, so Jeremy Smith could get the call against the Blackhawks.
Nathan MacKinnon was credited with his 15th goal early in the third when Tyson Barrie's shot deflected in off his leg, tying the game 1-1. But Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar scored twice in a 1:36 span shortly after and it was game, set and match.
The Avalanche (20-47-3, 43 points) have 12 games remaining, six at home where they're 11-22-2 and six on the road where they're 9-25-1.
Colorado will finish with its fewest points since the franchise moved from Quebec to Denver for the 1995-96 season. The 2010-11 team had 68 points (30-44-8).
The 2012-13 team had 39 points in the lockout-shortened 48-game season. It took 65 games for this Avalanche edition to reach that many.
The Red Wings (28-31-11) are going to miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1989-90 season, a remarkable run. Their win on Saturday gave them their first two-game winning streak since mid-February.
The Red Wings haven't fallen quite as far or as quickly as the Avalanche, but the time when these clubs were waging their often bloody rivalry and were among the NHL's elite sure seems so long ago.
Fans on Saturday watched a video of the infamous brawl that took place at The Joe on March 26, 1997, and so did the players.
“It was a lot of fun watching the highlights of all those old Red Wings-Avalanche games on the scoreboard,… MacKinnon said. “I wish I had gotten to play more times in this building, but the one thing I took away from that is that we need to get this franchise back to that level.
“We want to be playing in huge games like that again.…