Obviously, last night was a huge win for the Avalanche, and gives us a chance to focus our attention a bit more on moving up in the playoff seeds. Anything better than a 7th or 8th seed would allow us to avoid a 1st round matchup with either San Jose or Detroit. As I’ve mentioned previously, with the win over Edmonton the only teams capable of knocking the Avs out are Nashville and Vancouver. The Avs can now clinch with a win combined with regulation losses by both either the Predators and Canucks (thanks Selanne).
None of the 13 Western Conference teams with playoff aspirations were eliminated last night. By losing to Nashville, the Blue Jackets move to the brink of official elimination; any loss (regulation or overtime) will knock them out and any point earned by Nashville or Vancouver ends their slim playoff hopes. Phoenix, Chicago and Edmonton are still in the mix, but all have their work cut out for them.
3-29
| Rank | Team | GP | W | Pts | MAXPT | MAXW | DIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | y - DET* | 78 | 51 | 109 | 117 | 55 | + 72 |
| 2 | y - SJ* | 78 | 47 | 104 | 112 | 51 | + 28 |
| 3 | MIN* | 79 | 42 | 93 | 99 | 45 | + 3 |
| 4 | x - ANA | 79 | 44 | 96 | 102 | 47 | + 11 |
| 5 | DAL | 77 | 42 | 90 | 100 | 47 | + 29 |
| 6 | CAL | 77 | 40 | 90 | 100 | 45 | + 2 |
| 7 | COL | 79 | 42 | 90 | 96 | 45 | + 10 |
| 8 | NAS | 78 | 39 | 86 | 94 | 43 | + 2 |
| 9 | VAN | 78 | 38 | 86 | 94 | 42 | + 3 |
| 10 | EDM | 79 | 39 | 84 | 90 | 42 | - 17 |
| 11 | CHI | 77 | 36 | 80 | 90 | 41 | - 1 |
| 12 | PHO | 78 | 37 | 80 | 88 | 41 | - 14 |
| 13 | CBJ | 78 | 34 | 79 | 87 | 38 | - 17 |
Games that affect us today / tonight:
Dallas @ Los Angeles (4pm Eastern): The Avalanche are currently tied with both Dallas and Calgary at 90 points. The Avs are in good shape against Calgary in the tiebreaker categories (points in head to head games, wins, and goal differential) but not Dallas. We’ll have to finish with more points than the Stars if we want to be the 5th seed. Since that means a first round matchup against Anaheim, I’m not sure we actually want that.
Edmonton @ Calgary (10pm Eastern): We can now root for the Oilers without hesitation. Hopefully, last night’s game will have fired up Edmonton instead of exhausting them. How did the Avalanche avoid these late back-to-back games? All the other NW teams have had a back-to-back in the last week, and all four teams lost at least one of the pair of games. All three of Colorado’s wins this week were against a team involved in such a game, although in two of the three games it was the first of two games for the opponent. Either way, the schedule has probably helped us while hurting the teams we’re chasing. Not a bad break at all.
Nice obervations. That was a killer loss for Edmonton last night. Should be interesting to see how a young team responds to that. Still no word on Forsberg that I see so far.
“The Avs can now clinch with a win combined with regulation losses by BOTH the Predators and Canucks.”
Do you mean either, instead of both? Both sounds like they both NEED to lose, whereas, I think only one of them needs to lose (in addition to an Avs win) for us to clinch a playoff spot.
I had to think about that one for a bit.
yep, you’re 100% correct. since they are the only two teams that can catch us, a regulation loss by either coupled with a win by us would put us in. I think.
Now if they both (fortuitously) lose in regulation, and we win, we automatically clinch 7th. Personally, I want either the 3 or 6th seed. I actually Think I would prefer 8th to 7th right now, considering San Jose has lost (i think) only 2 games in their last 17, both coming via OT or Shootout.
My question is how four days off are going to affect the Avs, positive or negative. A rest before the push, and a few days to heal are always nice, but then I stat thinking about the Colorado Rockies and the World Series. Too much time off can be a burden.
“Personally, I want either the 3 or 6th seed. I actually Think I would prefer 8th to 7th right now, considering San Jose has lost (i think) only 2 games in their last 17, both coming via OT or Shootout.”
San Jose scares me more than Detroit does (I actually picked the Sharks to win it all before the season started…although I picked Toronto to be their opponent in the Finals). So I’m right there with you - 3rd or 6th would be great and 8th is probably more desirable than 7th.
“Colorado Rockies and the World Series”
Yeah but they were overachieving all the way there so that’s why they lost their mojo so badly.
The Avs have done no overachieving thus far
You could say that, compared to the beginning and middle of the season, they have be doing just that.
Jose certainly has.
Good point on the layoff TL. Really the only guy I’m too worried about with the layoff is Theo. He seems to play much better with a regular work load. Four days off is not too bad. Foote looked pretty poor against the Oil, I don’t care what McNabb says. I think Foote is too important for the playoff run to have him anything but 100%. We will need a shutdown pairing for the playoffs. Is Sauer that other guy? I find that pairing a little odd. Seems like Salei or Hannan should pair with him. But I think the lines are pretty set on defense at this point in the season.
But I think the lines are pretty set on defense at this point in the season.
This is Coach Q we are talking about here. Nothing is ever set. I think Foote and Hannan were a really good pair when the trade went down. Perhaps he is trying to share the veteran love a little, but I like that line. When you have this tough of a choice to make on defensive scratches, you have a nice problem.