Avs Secure A Spot In Stanley Cup Playoffs

In a win or go home game, the Colorado Avalanche was victorious to clinch the final spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Colorado needed to win in regulation to secure a berth to the NHL's postseason and the Avs did that by defeating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at Pepsi Center to earn a trip to the playoffs.
The Avalanche clinched its 23rd playoff berth in franchise history and 14th since the franchise relocated to Denver in 1995.
"What a night, this is one heck of a group. I don't think I have ever been part of a group with such team chemistry," said captain Gabriel Landeskog. "Whether we made it or not, I would still be really proud of this group. This is a big accomplishment to obviously make it after such a tough season last year, but we are not done."

Colorado ended the regular season with 95 points, an increase of 47 points from 2016-17. The Avalanche is the first NHL team to post a 40-plus point improvement from one season to the next (82-game seasons only) since the Pittsburgh Penguins also jumped 47 points from 2005-06.
Eight Avalanche players found the scoresheet on Saturday, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg, who each had two points and Landeskog, who had one goal and two assists.
Landeskog recorded three or more points in a contest for the sixth time this season, and he sealed the win for Colorado with an empty-net goal with 3:32 remaining.

"This time of the year, you need all four lines chipping in, doing their job and all three D-pairings," said defenseman Mark Barberio. "Every night there seems to be a different hero, even though most nights it seems to be that top line of ours, and they really came through tonight. I thought our captain was just unbelievable, he played a great game. He was hitting, he was involved in offense and defense and just goes to show what kind of leader he is, and we just followed his lead."
The first goal of the contest came off of rookie Samuel Girard's stick in the final minute of the opening frame, while Soderberg was screening Blues goaltender Jake Allen.
"That's was a big goal, huge goal. We came out flying in the first period, we wanted to have a good start," said Landeskog. "We knew they played last night, and it just seems like whenever we have a good first period we can kind of feed off of that for the rest of the game. We felt like we kept pushing in the first period but we weren't getting rewarded for it, so when he put that one home with a great screen in front from Carl, it just kind of propelled us in the right direction."
Tyson Barrie extended the lead for Colorado with a power-play tally early in the second period for his seventh man-advantage marker of the season. It was also his 14th goal of the year, a new career high for the blueliner.

"I thought we did a good job, even with a young group, we played our game. We didn't panic. It was 1-0, we chipped away, chipped away and we scored a big second goal," said goaltender Jonathan Bernier. "We just didn't panic all game. We knew we were in control and as a group we were confident coming in tonight, and I thought our big players came out to play and everyone played their game that they were supposed to play."
Bernier was playing in his fifth consecutive contest and made 32 saves in the victory, including 24 in the last 40 minutes.
"I'm really proud of this team," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. "I was really proud of this team before tonight, and then to see them step up the way they did and sort of finish the job of phase one of our season. I mean, I don't even know what to say, the leadership in our group, the dedication, the belief system from our team.
"From day one, they have been coachable, our young guys are getting better, they are playing big games. Throughout our lineup, it is pretty impressive. Last week or so didn't go real well for us and to be able to come home and respond the way we did, it's kind of what we have been doing all year and we did it on the big stage here tonight."
The Avs own the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and will face the Nashville Predators in the first round, the first-ever postseason meeting between the clubs.
"I think that our guys are hungry. I think they want to win, and they believe that if we play like we did tonight that we can win, I believe that," said Bednar. "To me, we aren't done by any means… I think [our improvement] might relieve a little bit of the pressure on some of our guys, and we can afford to continue to go and play the right way but still be loose and hopefully put Nashville under some pressure."

NATE THE GREAT

Nathan MacKinnon closed out the regular season with a career-high 97 points, the most by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic had 100 in 2006-07.
In the second period, he found the back of the net for the 39th time this season, and the goal stood as his 12th game-winner of the campaign, tied for the league lead and tied for the most in Avalanche history (Sakic in 2000-01).
MacKinnon ends the regular season with a NHL-high 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) at home, matching Sakic's home total in 2000-01 for the most in Avalanche history.

HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE

The Avalanche finished the campaign with a 28-11-2 mark on home ice to match a franchise record for home wins in a season set by the 2000-01 Stanley Cup championship team.
"It was incredible when we came out for the start of the game and Pepsi Center was just rocking," said Barberio. "We definitely fed off their energy, and we hope they bring some more of that for the first round of the playoffs because it just felt amazing to play in front of them tonight."
The playoffs will begin in Nashville for the Avalanche and Games 3 and 4 will take place at Pepsi Center. The full Stanley Cup Playoff schedule will be announced by the NHL on Sunday.

SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS

Colorado finished 2-for-3 on the penalty kill to close out the season 112-for-122 (91.8 percent) on home ice, the best home penalty-kill unit in the league.
The Avs' league-low 10 power-play goals allowed at Pepsi Center this season are the fewest ever allowed at home during an 80-plus game season, passing the 1998-99 Boston Bruin's previous record of 11.
The Avalanche went 1-for-3 on the power play, scoring a man-advantage tally for the fifth consecutive game. The Avs have recorded 65 power-play goals in 2017-18, the most by a Colorado team since 2006-07 (79) and tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the league.

OTHER NOTABLES

Samuel Girard notched his third goal since joining the Avalanche (fourth of the season) and his first at Pepsi Center.
Carl Soderberg skated in his 400th career game and notched two assists, his 10th multi-point game of the campaign.
Tyson Barrie recorded 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) on the power play this season, ranking third among league defensemen. His 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) this campaign are the most by an Avalanche blueliner since Ray Bourque tallied 59 in 2000-01.
Colorado scored two empty-net goals to bring its season total to a franchise-record 20, finishing second in the NHL (Minnesota, 22).