Colorado Readies for Final Two Weeks

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--After taking three out of a possible four points in a home-and-home weekend set against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Colorado Avalanche returned to Family Sports Center for practice on Tuesday. With only six games remaining, the Avs will try to strengthen their postseason chances as the regular season comes to a close.
Holding 81 points, Colorado possesses the Western Conference's second wild-card position, two points ahead of both the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild, with a game against the Coyotes looming on Friday.
Before the crucial matchup against Arizona at the end of the week, the Avs will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday at Pepsi Center. The Golden Knights, who sit in third place in the Pacific Division with a 42-28-6 mark (90 points), are one of the hottest teams in the league with a 10-2-1 mark in their last 13 outings.

The Avalanche has earned points in five consecutive contests and looks to continue its hot stretch of play to finish the regular season. Colorado has also gone 11-5-2 in their last 18 contests, but head coach Jared Bednar views the six remaining games as the most important outings of the year.
"We've done a decent job here recently of being on an even-keel and not getting satisfied," Bednar said. "The biggest six games of the year are coming up, so it's anybody's game. Whoever's the best through the final six games is going to be the team that gets in."
With four of Colorado's final six outings being played in the friendly confines of Pepsi Center, Nathan MacKinnon is focused on the team taking advantage of the majority home-ice schedule.
"We've weathered the storm so far, hopefully just keep grinding and finding ways to win," MacKinnon said. "Grubi's (Philipp Grubauer) been awesome, we're going to need him to keep playing great and it's a big 12-13 days for us here. We play some good teams, but we're confident. We feel like we can get some more wins. We have more home games than road games, so be good at home and try to find a way to get some wins."
Wednesday's contest will be the third and final meeting against Vegas during the regular season, with the teams splitting the prior two matchups. The clash against the Golden Knights is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT and can be seen on NBCSN.

Injury Updates

Forward Matt Nieto and defenseman Mark Barberio both returned to practice and have been cleared to play, according to Bednar.
Nieto has registered 22 points (four goals, 18 assists) in 58 appearances this season for Colorado, but hasn't appeared in a game since Feb. 22 after blocking a shot against Chicago.
Barberio has played in 12 contests, posting one goal during the 2018-19 campaign. His last outing was on Jan. 21 against the Nashville Predators before missing time with a lower-body injury.
Gabriel Landeskog participated in the team practice while wearing a red, non-contact jersey after skating on his own for the past few days. He suffered an upper-body injury at March 7 at the Dallas Stars and Bednar originally outlined a 4-to-6 week recovery time.
Landeskog is the Avs' third leading scorer and has posted career highs this season with 33 goals, 69 points and nine game-winning tallies. Bednar gave an update on the captain's status after practice, noting that Landeskog has been making progress every day.

"The more he does, you've got to see how he feels the next morning and then we make decisions based on how he's feeling from there," said Bednar. "But he hasn't taken contact yet, so he's not going tomorrow."
Bednar ruled both Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen out for Wednesday's game against the Golden Knights. Rantanen, who has a career-high 87 points and 31 goals this year, has been out of the lineup since suffering an upper-body injury on March 21 against the Stars.
A decision about Rantanen's status for Friday's game against Arizona has not been made, Bednar said.
"I can't answer that right now to be honest with you," said Bednar. "He's not going to go tomorrow and then we'll re-evaluate from there."
Vladislav Kamenev has been skating on his own before practice in a red, non-contact jersey but does not have a timeline for a return, Bednar said. The 22-year-old has played in 23 games this season, posting two goals and three helpers before suffering a shoulder injury on Dec. 8 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Line Combinations

Forwards
13 Alex Kerfoot - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 37 J.T. Compher
22 Colin Wilson - 34 Carl Soderberg - 10 Sven Andrighetto
18 Derick Brassard - 17 Tyson Jost - 11 Matt Calvert
57 Gabriel Bourque - 26 Andrew Agozzino - 83 Matt Nieto
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 4 Tyson Barrie
16 Nikita Zadorov - 12 Patrik Nemeth
44 Mark Barberio - 27 Ryan Graves
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
1 Semyon Varlamov