The Avalanche are still trying to find their game again, but they’re getting healthy; injured forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Logan O’Connor and Ross Colton are all skating, and the hope is each can return during this four-game road trip.
Landeskog, their captain, and Lehkonen will bolster depth scoring when they return. Lehkonen has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games; Landeskog has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 47 games this season.
“We have a lot of guys waiting in the wings injury-wise and being able to come back, but the lineup overall is just very competitive right now and that just amplifies a lot of play,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “Nobody on this team shies away from that pressure, and that’s an exciting thing to see obviously at this point of the season and hopefully when we get to the playoffs.”
Regardless of lineup, the Avalanche wanted to turn things around after some disappointing results of late; they were especially frustrated after a 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday and wanted a quick response. They got it in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Stars on Wednesday.
“On 5-on-5, we did a number of good things,” Nelson said. “We outshot them, felt we controlled most of the game. On the power play we had a big goal and the (penalty kill) did a great job. They’re a pretty dangerous power play.
“Would’ve liked to get one or two to kind of open it up and pull out the win, but yeah, I think systematically and structure-wise, we played the game we talked about (with) bouncing back from the Pittsburgh game when we weren’t very clean.”
Colorado is heading to the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, tied for the longest active run in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is showing signs of getting back to the style of hockey it wants to play but knows it must continue.
“It’s a good start, a good start. We’ll be happy about that,” coach Jared Bednar said about the postseason clinching.
“I mean, we like what we’re doing right now. Obviously, there are ebbs and flows to the season, but to this point of the season we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here. We feel good about the way we’re playing. Making the playoffs is the first step to where you want to go, and we’re pretty happy about that. (We’ve got) 100 points, and (there’s) still a lot of season left to play.”
