Surely, most of Avalanche fans are aware that the Avs are riding a 4-game winning streak and are still well within the playoff hunt. At this time of the year, instead of looking at lottery picks (points and laughs at Oilers fans), we can instead look at the Avs' remaining schedule and how it might impact playoff chances. Yes, it's nice to type that.
The Avalanche have 18 games remaining, 9 at home and 9 on the road. 8 of their games are against teams currently lower than them in the standings, with 10 coming against teams above them. Overall, though, the average point total for their opponents is 69.6 - almost a dead on match with the Avalanche (70 points).
Colorado's young guns will be playing at a fairly consistent pace the rest of the way. The Avs have one two-day break (March 18th and 19th) and a bizarre 4-day break before the final two games of the year. Colorado has two more sets of back-to-backs and all other games are with 1-day off in between.
Unfortunately, the nasty "can't-beat-the-NW" meme is going to rear it's ugly head before the final curtain call. The Avs have 7 games remaining against those pesky NW rivals and, overall, Colorado has a 13-31-4 record against their remaining opponents. No matter what, the Avalanche will not be able to make the playoffs without winning at least a few NW games; there just won't be enough points available against non-NW teams.
| GP | Date | Opponent | Pts | Record | Avg GF | Avg GA |
|
| 65 | Thu, Mar 1, 2012 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 43 | 2-0-0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | |
| 66 | Sat, Mar 3, 2012 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 77 | 0-1-0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | |
| 67 | Sun, Mar 4, 2012 | @ | Minnesota Wild | 65 | 1-3-0 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| 68 | Tue, Mar 6, 2012 | Minnesota Wild | 65 | 1-3-0* | 1.5 | 1.8 | |
| 69 | Thu, Mar 8, 2012 | @ | Nashville Predators | 81 | 0-1-1 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| 70 | Sat, Mar 10, 2012 | Edmonton Oilers | 56 | 2-3-0 | 2.4 | 2.6 | |
| 71 | Mon, Mar 12, 2012 | Anaheim Ducks | 64 | 2-1-0 | 3.3 | 2.0 | |
| 72 | Wed, Mar 14, 2012 | @ | Buffalo Sabres | 62 | 0-0-0 | ||
| 73 | Thu, Mar 15, 2012 | @ | New Jersey Devils | 74 | 1-0-0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| 74 | Sat, Mar 17, 2012 | @ | New York Rangers | 86 | 0-0-0 | ||
| 75 | Tue, Mar 20, 2012 | Calgary Flames | 67 | 0-4-0 | 2.0 | 3.3 | |
| 76 | Thu, Mar 22, 2012 | @ | Phoenix Coyotes | 73 | 1-2-0 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 77 | Sat, Mar 24, 2012 | Vancouver Canucks | 87 | 0-3-1 | 0.8 | 3.8 | |
| 78 | Mon, Mar 26, 2012 | @ | San Jose Sharks | 71 | 1-2-0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| 79 | Wed, Mar 28, 2012 | @ | Vancouver Canucks | 87 | 0-3-1* | 0.8 | 3.8 |
| 80 | Fri, Mar 30, 2012 | @ | Calgary Flames | 67 | 0-4-0* | 2.0 | 3.3 |
| 81 | Thu, Apr 5, 2012 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 43 | 2-0-0* | 4.0 | 1.0 | |
| 82 | Sat, Apr 7, 2012 | Nashville Predators | 85 | 0-1-1* | 1.5 | 3.5 |