Last season the Avalanche clinched a postseason berth in game 82 - this year they can do it one game earlier.

One more point. That’s all the Colorado Avalanche need to earn in order to secure a spot in the 2019 playoffs.

They handedly beat the Edmonton Oliers 6-2 at home on Tuesday night, earning them two more points. The Oilers are officially out of playoff contention, but the Winnipeg Jets are not.

The Jets have already secured their playoff spot in the Central Division, but are fighting the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues for first place. They lost 5-1 against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, so they re looking to make up those missed points.

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Colorado Avalanche

The Avs are picking up speed at the right time. They have won their last five games at home, and just need to tie at the end of regulation to earn their playoff berth.

Mikko Rantanen has missed his 6th game with an undisclosed injury, however Jared Bednar has said that Rantanen might play on Thursday or Saturday at the Sharks.

The rest of the team is chugging along well, having scored eight points already in April.

Forwards

Alexander Kerfoot - Nathan MacKinnon - J.T. Compher

Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Colin Wilson

Matt Nieto - Tyson Jost - Matt Calvert

Gabriel Bourque - Derick Brassard - Sven Andrighetto

Defense

Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson

Ian Cole - Tyson Barrie

Nikita Zadorov - Patrik Nemeth

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Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are third in the Western Conference behind the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks.

They lost to the Wild on the road on Tuesday, but beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime on Monday. They have been slightly better at home than on the road, and lost 7-1 the last time they played at the Pepsi Center in February.

The Jets also defeated the Avs 5-2 in Winnipeg on November 9 but the Avs have outscored them 17-14 overall. This game will determine the winner of the season series.

Forwards

Kyle Connor- Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

Bryan Little- Kevin Hayes- Patrik Laine

Nikolaj Ehlers- Adam Lowry- Brandon Tanev

Jack Roslovic- Andrew Copp- Mathieu Perreault

Defense

Nathan Beaulieu- Jacob Trouba

Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien

Dmitri Kulikov - Tyler Myers

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Starting Goalies

Phillip Grubauer has been a workhorse for the Avs in their playoff hunt. Semyon Varlamov played on Tuesday against the Oilers to give Gruby a break, but he should be good to start. Varlamov was in goal when the Avs defeated the Jets in February, but Grubauer has the hot hand right now.

Connor Hellebuyck was in goal for the Jets OT win on Monday, but he lost against the Avs in February. His record against them isn’t great, but has faced them most recently. And coming off a win, it seems likely that Paul Maurice will give him the start.