Colorado Avalanche Can Clinch at Home with Just a Single Point

The Colorado Avalanche face several playoff scenarios. But ultimately, their fate comes down to just a single point, one they can get tonight.

The Colorado Avalanche. One point. As Matt Stephens of the Denver Post points out, if the Avs get one point tonight, they will clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season. As a boon, if the Arizona Coyotes fail to secure both points tonight, the Avs will clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season.

This is heady stuff, Avs Nation. When they lost to the Dallas Stars early in March, I suffered flashbacks of the 2014-15 season when the Avalanche lost eight of their last nine games to fall right out of playoff contention. If there’s such a thing as PTSD for fandom, that was it for me.

Anyway, that is not what is happening right now. The Colorado Avalanche face a tough game against a very good team… that suddenly seems all too human. The Winnipeg Jets have been skidding a little, having lost three of their last four games — naturally, we’re hoping to make it four out of their last five.

The Coyotes will be playing the Golden Knights in Vegas at the same time. The Knights are also a really good team… who have looked all too human recently.

Hopefully the Jets look a little more human than the Knights tonight.

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: April 4, 7:00 pm MT
TV Networks: ALT, TSN3 (Jets’ feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5)

Hot Goalie

General hockey wisdom holds that a team can ride a hot goalie into and through the playoffs. Well, as A.J. Haefele of BSN Avalanche remarks, Philipp Grubauer is arguably the hottest goalie in the NHL in the last few weeks. In his last eight starts, Colorado has gone 6-0-2.

What’s more, Semyon Varlamov doesn’t look to shabby right now either. He got off to a wobbly start — as Altitude analyst Mark Rycroft says, he’d like to have the second goal against the Edmonton Oilers back. However, he was perfect in the final two periods of the game.

Jared Bednar has kept true to his New Year’s resolution of not stating who his starting goalie would be at the time of writing. However, it’s a good guess that the team will return to Grubauer. Nonetheless, it’s good to know neither choice is a detriment.

The Nathan MacKinnon Show

And Gabriel Landeskog, too. There is no question that an already climbing team got a surge when their captain returned.

However, MacKinnon is our superstar. He is the type of player who can take control of a game and enforce his will on the play. We saw that the other night against the Oilers when he took a 2-0 score for Edmonton and did this:

It changed the entire pace of the game. Hockey is a team sport, and players who try to do too much can sometimes end up costing the team. But MacKinnon is still an electric player, and he can help Colorado gain that single point they need.

There’s a player missing from the top line — Mikko Rantanen. We saw in a previous post that he’s been on the ice practicing stick moves. Unfortunately, he’s been in sneakers, not skates. However, Avs insider Adrian Dater asked Bednar about Rantanen:

So, it is possible that Rantanen can return.

Tonight is a huge game. Colorado is facing a tough opponent. Can they win this game? If they control the speed and the goalie is hot, absolutely. Will they win this game? I think they will, actually. Even getting a single point will guarantee a playoff berth.

This video often brings me good luck before games. Let’s share it:

So, dear readers, if you enjoy the positivity of this post, feel free to SHMASH the like button or leave a comment below. And remember this:

If you become a contributor, you only have to write once a week about anything Avs related. And right now is a great time to be a Colorado Avalanche fan.