Every game the Avalanche play for the remainder of the season will have an impact on their ability to climb into a playoff spot, for as long as they remain in the hunt, that is.
But some games are more significant than others, including Saturday's meeting with the Calgary Flames at the Pepsi Center.
"They're in a spot where we want to be right now," Jarome Iginla said Friday.
The Flames (37-25-5), who were to play Toronto at home Friday night, are in a playoff position, in third place in the Pacific Division with 79 points. Los Angeles (33-21-13) also has 79 points and could knock the Flames down a notch but for now has the second wild card position in the West because they have fewer wins.
The Avalanche (31-26-11), who have 73 points, are chasing the Flames, Kings, Winnipeg (78 points) and San Jose (76) with 14 games remaining.
"Last night was an important game as well," coach Patrick Roy said of the Avalanche's 2-1 shootout win against New Jersey. "It's funny, because you win last night and you say, 'You know what, we're not that far, we're still in it.' "
The Avalanche have won four of their past five games and nine of 13, but they need to close out this three-game homestand Saturday with a win -- preferably in regulation -- before embarking on a five-game road trip whose outcome will determine if gaining a postseason berth is at all realistic.
"We know we have to get to a certain amount of points to give ourselves a chance," said Iginla, who leads the Avalanche with 22 goals and is tied with Gabriel Landeskog with 47 points. "We have to focus on ourselves. It's not about chasing one team. It's great from our point of view if we're seeing the right teams happen to lose, but we still have to win our games. We've been focusing for a while on just ourselves and not the gap, and that's helped us.
"We're finding ways to win more consistently. It's about giving ourselves a chance at the end to get to a certain amount of points. Hopefully it's the last few games that we will have to watch and we'll be right in the mix."
Iginla obviously has plenty of ties to Calgary. He played his first 15-plus NHL seasons with the Flames and went to the Stanley Cup Finals with them in 2003-04. The organization still means plenty to him, but he said Friday: "At this point it's just about getting ready to focus on winning a game."
The teams haven't met since Dec. 4 in Calgary when the Flames won 4-3 in overtime. Iginla had two shots on goal and no points. He played against them twice last season with Boston and had two assists.
"I've seen the flaming 'C' for so long and it's always going to mean a little bit more as far as the organization and everything, the experiences that I've had," he said. "But tomorrow I don't think it will be weird, it will be just about winning a game. That'll be the focus. Being here at home now, it's more about the Avalanche and trying to win an important game."
Roy remains close to Flames coach Bob Hartley, who guided the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 2001 and is a leading Coach of the Year candidate this season.
"They remind me a bit of us last year," he said. "The players came with a great mindset and ready to work hard. Bob Hartley's been doing a really good job. I've always been very close to him. We talk probably twice a month."
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The Avalanche returned goalie Calvin Pickard to Lake Erie in the AHL after Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves against the Devils after missing one game because of a groin injury, so Reto Berra remains the backup.
"Varly was 100 percent," Roy said. "We're happy with Berra. Berra has been working hard. Berra did OK when he came in for Varly and that's the plan for the season. We want to have Berra as a backup and we just continue. Obviously, the fact that Pickard's played so well when Varly's not there makes us have to make decisions.
"Berra will play some games (before) the end of the year, I will guarantee you that. But right now I'm not focusing on who's the backup. It's not very important to me."
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Roy said that defenseman Erik Johnson is doing well while recovering from Jan. 26 arthroscopic knee surgery and could return to the lineup in a little more than a week during the Canadian portion of the five-game trip. He said Johnson has been skating every day for about a week.
While most players worked out off the ice Friday, Berra, Patrick Bordeleau, Freddie Hamilton, Joey Hishon, Ryan Wilson and Jesse Winchester did some on-ice work.