The Colorado Avalanche take on the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday afternoon. The Stars lead the season series 2-1, but the Avs can even it up by taking over the game early.
One disadvantage for the Avalanche, however, is that Cale Makar will not be playing. He got hurt in the blowout victory against the Calgary Flames and missed Wednesday’s game, an 8-6 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. There’s a chance that he is available before the postseason, but the Avalanche don’t want to expose hiim to more injury risk than necessary.
The Avs cannot let off the gas pedal in the final eight games of the regular season. They still have something to play for — the first seed in the Western Conference. Doing so would ensure that they will face the second wildcard team, which isn’t set in stone yet.
I want to see guys like Valeri Nichushkin, Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly chip in offensively. That would almost fully ensure that the Avalanche take home the win. The Stars are sitting Jake Oettinger for this game, while Casey DeSmith will be protecting the net instead. While the Avalanche have been “goalied” at times this season, I’d rather face DeSmith than Oettinger.
However, the objective remains the same: They need to take control against every team they face, regardless of caliber. Doing so against the Stars would be a solid way of showing that no team has any business beating them. After all, once the postseason begins, nobody will care about what happened in the regular season. What matters is what is directly in front of you.
I would think that Scott Wedgewood gets the start against the division rival Stars, given that he has played better than Mackenzie Blackwood this season. However, if Blackwood does make the start, it could be the beginning of better play by him, which the Avalanche desperately need in case something happened to Wedgewood.
Get ready for a fun end to a tremendous regular season for the Avalanche.