The Avalanche open a back-to-back set when they play in Dallas on Friday before heading home to meet Minnesota on Saturday at the Pepsi Center. The Wild are already in Denver after defeating Nashville on Thursday.
Here are the game notes.
Their chances of grabbing the last wild-card spot in the West are already slim, but the Avalanche will need to win both games in regulation to maintain even the slightest hope of getting into the postseason.
Coach Patrick Roy told the Denver Post on Friday that he and executive VP/GM Joe Sakic will discuss "what's available for us" before Monday's NHL trading deadline.
"See what we can do to make this team better," Roy said. "Right now I'm focusing more on our games and how we want to play the next two games. Those two games are very important to us, and they could certainly give us an opportunity to get back in the (playoff) picture by playing well. If we can stay very close, you never know what could happen."
Roy said on his weekly radio show Thursday that he didn't think Ryan O'Reilly would be traded by the deadline -- not really a revelation -- and he spent a good chunk of the interview singing O'Reilly's praises.
The Avalanche aren't going to trade core players, leaving Daniel Briere, Jan Hejda, John Mitchell and Max Talbot as depth guys who might fetch a draft pick or perhaps a halfway decent prospect.
"I'd be lying if I said I'm not thinking about it," Hejda told the Post. "This is the hockey world. I've heard there are some teams interested in me, but it's simple right now: I'm a Colorado Avalanche and want to win the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. All I'm trying to think about is the next game here in Dallas, and the game after that against Minnesota. These are really big games for us."
Semyon Varlamov will be in goal, starting for the 18th consecutive time. The Avalanche are 3-2-2 in the first game when playing back to back and 1-4-2 in the second.
Briere will replace Paul Carey on the fourth line, not much for showcasing. Briere was a healthy scratch the past six games.