Colorado Avalanche: Biggest Night of the Season
By Anthony Noga
The Colorado Avalanche and their competition for the last playoff spots all play tonight
Tonight is the biggest night in the Colorado Avalanche’s season. The game against the Chicago Blackhawks is a must win to hang in the wildcard dogfight. But tonight’s importance goes way behind their own game.
Colorado is one of four teams fighting for the final three playoff spots. There’s nobody left behind them. The Dallas Stars are just waiting to call time of death, and everyone else is booking tee-times.
That leaves the Avalanche chasing the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. Every team in this group plays tonight, making tonight a key moment for the Avalanche’s playoff aspirations.
If all goes well, Colorado could be back in the first wild-card spot tomorrow morning. If all goes badly, the Colorado Avalanche will have no room for error.
So while the Avalanche fight for their playoff lives, keep on an eye on another couple other games with huge consequences.
St. Louis Blues at Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights can do the Avalanche a huge favour tonight by beating St. Louis. The Blues looked like they were just about out of it a couple weeks ago. They were fading in the standings and star forward Vladimir Tarasenko suffered an upper body injury. The stage was set for them to bow out.
Except they went on a tear.
Tonight would be a perfect time for their six game winning streak to end. The Vegas Golden Knights, four points from clinching the Pacific Division in their inaugural season, have a good shot at doing just that. They should be motivated, coming off a 3-2 loss to the cellar dwelling Arizona Coyotes.
Vegas is rested and playing at home, where they’ve been terrific. A regulation win would keep St. Louis at 91 points, and give Colorado a chance to move past them. Any other result would put a dent in the Avalanche’s playoff chances.
The game goes at 8:30 Mountain Time, so the Blues will have a pretty good idea what the Avalanche did by the second intermission at the latest.
Go Knights!
Los Angeles Kings at Anaheim Ducks
This is going to be a big one. The Ducks, one point ahead of Colorado and occupying the last wild-card spot, take on the Kings, three points ahead of the Avalanche and holding down third in the Pacific Division. Colorado and Anaheim both have a game in hand on the Kings.
These are the games you wish both teams could lose. Since they can’t, you just have to hope that the game ends in regulation. Ideally, LA pulls this one out. It’ll be tough though, seeing as they played last night, beating Arizona.
It’s the same situation as above, where a Kings win keeps Colorado within one point of Anaheim. An LA win in OT/SO wouldn’t be awful, as Colorado could still pass the Ducks with a win of their own. Colorado holds the tiebreakers against the Ducks.
If Anaheim wins in regulation, they’ll pass the Kings for third in the division. This is bad for the Avalanche, since the Kings hold the tiebreakers. The Ducks winning past regulation would be the absolute worst case for Colorado.
This one starts at 8 Mountain.
The Avalanche’s next two games after tonight are against the Ducks, then the Kings. By the end of Easter Weekend, these three teams will all have played each other. The two that emerge with the best record could well punch their playoff ticket
Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche
Last time these teams met, Colorado came away with a 5-1 win. That victory put them in an excellent position to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, a tough stretch since then eroded those hopes to the point that tonight is a must win.
Related Story: Avs Playoffs Hopes On the Line Against Chicago
Time to put that home record on display once again. Colorado has the advantage tonight of playing the team with the worst record. The Blues, Kings and Ducks all have much tougher opponents. Chicago also played last night, and had to travel, losing an hour in the process.
There’s no excuse not to win this game. Colorado is rested, at home, getting healthier and desperate for points. Chicago is none of those things. A strong performance could also boost their confidence – not to mention send a message – as the boys take on the Ducks and Kings over this long weekend.
Conclusion
Tonight is going to be huge. A great night will see the Colorado Avalanche will wake up tomorrow holding the first wild-card spot; A bad night, however, will just about kill their playoff hopes.
Wins by Colorado, Vegas, and Los Angeles (the latter two in regulation) will improve Avalanche’s playoff chances nearly 19 percent. If Chicago, St Louis, and Anaheim win, Colorado’s chances drop more than 25 percent. The numbers alone don’t mean much, but they do illustrate just how important tonight is going to be.
Three games, four teams within three points all battling not to be the one left without a chair when the music stops. It’s the biggest night of the Colorado Avalanche’s season.
And if they win, the next game will be even bigger.