It's a foregone conclusion that the Avalanche will take part in the playoffs for the first time since 2009-10, but the team can officially clinch Thursday night with a win against Vancouver at the Pepsi Center coupled with a loss by Phoenix at New Jersey.
"It'd be nice to get this out of the way, but it's not what's important to me," coach Patrick Roy said after the morning skate. "To me, it's to see our team play consistent hockey. I don't want us to look at the big picture all the time. I want us focusing on what we have to do.
"We've been talking all along we want to be even keel and it's certainly not going to change today because we're starting to sniff the playoffs. We want to make sure that we play the same type of hockey, solid at home, and we'll see where we are at the end." The Canucks have had the Avalanche's number in recent seasons and have gone 8-1-1 in the past 10 games at the Pepsi Center. They're also in the hunt for a playoff position, four points behind Phoenix for the second wild-card spot. The Canucks have won three games in a row and are coming off a 5-2 win Wednesday in Minnesota. They didn't skate Thursday morning.
"They're a desperate team right now and they got a win last night," Matt Duchene said. "We've struggled against Vancouver in the past and it'd be nice to start turning that around tonight. We've lost two in a row at home and we want to get back on the winning ways at home."
Roy addressed the team at center ice after the morning skate, reminding players to stay focused.
"Patty said it best today," Duchene said. "We have a chance to clinch tonight not because a team won and a team lost. We have a chance because we can control our own destiny. It would be a big accomplishment. That was our goal early in the season, to make the playoffs and to challenge for the Stanley Cup. That's step one and it would be great to do it tonight."
Center John Mitchell skated again, but he'll miss his fourth game because of his back injury even though Roy said he "looked pretty good."
"I'm not sure if he's going to play Saturday against San Jose, but most likely against Columbus (next Tuesday on the road)," Roy said.
Defenseman Erik Johnson took the warmup and will play. He was questionable because of flu-like symptoms. The Avalanche will use 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Here's the Avalanche lineup (Reto Berra, Paul Carey and Ryan Wilson will be scratched):
FORWARDS Ryan O'Reilly - Matt Duchene - Jamie McGinn Gabriel Landeskog - Paul Stastny - Nathan MacKinnon Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Max Talbot Brad Malone - Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Jan Hejda -- Erik Johnson Andre Benoit -- Cory Sarich Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Nate Guenin
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jean-Sebastien Giguere