The Avalanche return to action tomorrow night and beginning their final sprint to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here's a look at what stands between them and a playoff berth.
THE SCHEDULE:
24: Games Remaining
21 : Points to the 100 point mark
10-13-1: Record needed for 100 points
Games Per Month:
Feb: 2
Mar: 14
Apr: 8
Travel:
12 - Home Games
12 – Road Games
4 – Longest Home Stand (March 8 – 14, Blues, Jets, Blackhawks, and Ducks)
4 – Longest Road Trip (April 8 – 13. The Avs last 4 games of the year take a trip out West starting with the Oilers. Hopefully they’ll have locked a playoff position by then, because the Avs last 3 are: Canucks and Sharks and Ducks! Oh My!)
2 – Back to Backs
March 18 in Montreal – March 19 in Winnipeg
April 10 in Vancouver – April 11 in San Jose
Distribution:
6 – Central Division Games
(Blues twice, Blackhawks twice, Jets and Predators once each)
8 – Eastern Conference Opponents
(Lightning, Red Wings, Senators, Canadiens, Bruins, Blue Jackets, Rangers, Penguins)
Hey I Know You:
0 – New Opponents. The Avs have played every team in the NHL, and they’ve already beaten 24 of them at least once.
Best Case Scenario: The Avalanche can still beat 28 of the NHL's 30 teams.
0-2-0 vs Carolina (Series over)
0-2-0 vs St. Louis (Rematches March 8 and April 5)
0-1-0 vs Detroit (Rematch March 6 in Detroit. Lidstrom Jersey Retirment Night)
0-1-0 vs Vancouver (Rematches March 27 and April 10)
0-1-0 vs New York Rangers (Rematch April 3)
THE BUSINESS:
3 - Days until the Avalanche can trade Ryan O'Reilly (if they so choose)
8 - Days until the NHL trade deadline
6 - Roster UFAs (Stastny, Mitchell, Cliche, Sarich, Benoit, Giguere)
3 - Roster RFAs (O'Reilly, McGinn, Barrie)
12 - Players in the farm to sign (including Elliott, Hishon, Malone, Olver and the Cutthroats goalie tandem)
11,923,702 - Cap Space available at the deadline.
THE MILESTONES:
3 - Goals for Erik Johnson to match his career high
5 - Points for Gabriel Landeskog to match his career best season
8 - Goals until the 30 mark for Nathan MacKinnon (First Av since Hejduk and Sakic scored 30+ each in 06-07)
17 - Games until Tyson Barrie hits the 100 games played mark
18 - Points for Matt Duchene to eclipse his career best season
18 - Games until PA Parenteau hits the 300 games played mark
THE PLAYOFFS:
5 - Points between the Avalanche and the Central Division lead after the Olympic break.
15 - Points between the Avalanche and 9th place after the Olympic break.
8 - Points separating the Avalanche and the league leading Ducks.
8 - Players who have never appeared in the NHL Playoffs (MacKinnon, Barrie, Landeskog, Parenteau, Johnson, Holden, Cliche, Guenin)
4 - Players who have scored a playoff goal (Talbot 18, Stastny 3, O'Reilly 1, McLeod 1)