Preparing for the Playoffs

There's always something special about the last home of the regular season in any sport; though in baseball, it would be the last home series. In the case of hockey, similar to basketball, it's 82 total games, 41 at home, 41 away. The Avalanche played our 41st and final home game of this regular season with really nothing much to play for other than thanking the fans for another great regular season.

Now, there were a few tweaks entering this game, the 80th of our season. For one, Martin Necas and Samuel Girard were back. The big one was Nathan MacKinnon. He was out for this game, and I believe the plan is to sit him until the playoffs start. Here's the thing. Mathematically, we entered this game still alie for 2nd place. Realistically, we had no chance at it. So we accepted our fate and scaled back. No shame in that. And in the case of MacKinnon, he entered Thursday's game in a neck-and-neck race with Nikita Kucherov for the Ross Trophy. But solo trophies were never the focus for Mack. The goal was another ring to go with the one he has already. Speaking of, this whole "resting Mack" thing definitely has the same vibe as 2022, and we all know how that ended.

Also, Our Captain... he's close. He's coming, folks.

In this meeting, we were facing the Vancouver Canucks, who entered this meeting officially eliminated from playoff contention after nearly reaching the Final Four last year. Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Kevin Lankinen, and it was mostly quiet, except for the penalties. Two were committed, both by the Avs, and it waa Necas and Girard who committed them. Both Vancouver PPs were knocked off, and after 20 minutes, goose eggs. Second period saw both teams press, but it would be Vancouver who struck first, and it was Jake DeBrusk who made it 1-0. Minutes later, Kiefer Sherwood scores, because of course he does. It's a golden rule: if you used to play for the Avs, you score on the Avs. Still remember that Hat Trick he had against us.

Avs were down 2-0, so were the Dallas Stars, but honestly, it didn't matter. We were in "preparing for the playoffs" mode, so this game didn't have too much meaning. At least we ended the shutout bid, and it was Devon Toews who put us on the board late in the period. Charlie Coyle and Cale Makar with the helpers, yet another point for Makar. It was 2-1 Nucks after 40 minutes, and early in the third, Dakota Joshua made it 3-1. It was pretty much done there, and if it wasn't, Nils Hoglander made sure of it with an empty netter.

This went pretty much like it was expected to go with MacKinnon out and the Avs preparing for April 19 and beyond. So with this, the Avs are locked in at third place in the Central for the 2nd straight year, and from the looks of it, we will be facing Dallas, as the Jets are on the verge of winning the Central. As I said, I'm getting a 2022 vibe from this game plan. That year, we basically took the last week's worth of games off to avoid the Presidents' Trophy, and it resulted in us winning the trophy we wanted to win. MacKinnon will most likely be back for the playoffs, and he'll have the Captain with him from the looks of it. That will be absolutely amazing!

The Avs finish with a home record of 26-12-3; a very good tally. We've won 22 road games, that's the number to focus on, especially since we'll start on the road again. Speaking of the road, the Avs' final two games of the regular season will be in Southern California--LA first, then the OC. Because of this, I will recap those back-to-back games in one simple story after our regular season finale comes to an end.

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