Division champions!
Thanks to longtime rival Detroit, the Avalanche clinched the Central Division title Sunday before playing in Anaheim to earn the No. 2 playoff seed in the Western Conference. The Avalanche, which already had home-ice advantage, will meet the Minnesota Wild, the top wild card team, in what promises to be a tightly-contested opening-round series starting Thursday.
The schedule (best-of-seven):
April 17, Thursday -- at Colorado 7:30 MDT April 19, Saturday -- at Colorado 7:30 MDT April 21, Monday -- at Minnesota 5 MDT April 24, Thursday -- at Minnesota 7:30 MDT April 26, Saturday -- at Colorado TBD April 28, Monday -- at Minnesota TBD April 30, Wednesday -- at Colorado TBD
And there it is! Central Division champs... Wow Whatta year! Let's make it even better with a long playoff run #WhyNotUs
— Matt Duchene (@Matt9Duchene) April 13, 2014The Avalanche will take a 52-22-7 record and 111 points into the Honda Center on Sunday night to meet the Ducks in a regular-season finale that will have no bearing on the standings. The Ducks have clinched the conference title and No. 1 seed with a 53-20-8 record and 114 points.
The Red Wings defeated reeling and injury-riddled St. Louis 3-0, handing the Blues their sixth consecutive defeat. The Blues finished 52-23-7, also good for 111 points, but the Avalanche won the tiebreaker with more non-shootout wins (47-43). The Blues, who had a commanding division lead two weeks ago, wound up second and will face the defending Stanley Cup champion and third-place Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.
For the Avalanche, it was a remarkable revival under first-year coach Patrick Roy. Colorado finished last in the conference and 29th in the NHL standings a year ago. This is the team's first division title since 2002-03, when it finished first in the Northwest Division and lost to the Wild in the opening round after taking a 3-1 series lead in what was Roy's final season as a player.
The Avalanche has tied the franchise record for wins in a season with 52, originally set in 2000-01, and set a franchise record with 26 road wins. Colorado's 55 road points are the most in the NHL and its 111 points are the second-highest total in team history.
The Avalanche went 4-0-1 against the Wild this season, but every game was close. Colorado won 3-1 Nov. 29 at Minnesota and 3-2 in a shootout Nov. 30 at the Pepsi Center; lost 2-1 in a shootout Dec. 14 at the Pepsi Center; won 4-2 at Minnesota on Jan. 11 and 5-4 on Jan. 30 at the Pepsi Center.
While the Avalanche has gone 8-1-1 in its past 10 games before meeting the Ducks, the Wild is on a 6-0-1 run heading into its final game against Nashville.
Roy said Friday night, after the Avalanche lost 5-1 in San Jose, that he planned to start goalie Semyon Varlamov, but that changed. Jean-Sebastien Giguere started and Reto Berra was the backup. Giguere had his greatest success with the Ducks -- winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003 and the Stanley Cup in 2007 -- and is expected to retire this summer.
Stefan Elliott scored a goal after being recalled from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League, where he had 14 goals and 14 assists in 61 games.