Morning Skate Report: Avs Have Determined Mindset

With just 12 games and 23 days left in the regular season, every outing is of the utmost importance for the Colorado Avalanche in its push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Everyone else around us is winning so we're falling farther in the standings. We have to win," said Colorado head coach Jared Bednar after today's morning skate. "You can't leave it up for grabs, so that means when the puck hits the ice tonight we got to be jumping."
The Avalanche enters tonight's game against the Anaheim Ducks at Pepsi Center five points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but the team does own a game in hand on the Coyotes and the ninth-place Minnesota Wild.

Colorado still has contests remaining against Arizona and Minnesota in the coming weeks, as well as with the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues--two other teams in the mix--but the club doesn't want to have too far to climb with only three weeks remaining in the 2018-19 slate.
"We know how close the wild-card race is in the West here, and we're right in the mix," said veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie. "It kind of feels a bit like last year. We know we have to play great hockey down the stretch. If it takes to the last game then so be it. We're going to be in a dogfight.
"We got 12 games left, and we want to win all 12 of them. We want to leave no doubt that we're going to get in. Every game we have to treat like a playoff game."

The Avs have strung together some solid outings recently, but that strong play hasn't always resulted in victories. That was the case in the 3-0 loss in their last game on Monday where they outshot the Carolina Hurricanes 38-31.
However, there is no time for moral victories at this time of the campaign. It's all about the two points.
"I thought we created a lot of chances, and we just got to bear down. Sometimes it's in front of the net," said forward Alex Kerfoot. "Obviously their goalie played well, but some of those we're going to need to capitalize on. I think it's about limiting our mistakes."
The Ducks are going to be in a back-to-back situation tonight after falling 6-1 in Arizona on Thursday night and are wrapping up a stretch where they play three games in four nights.

"Our start is going to be key tonight," Bednar said. "We have to get on the balls of our feet, got to get on our toes and got to get skating and make our speed a factor tonight. No better time to get after a team at the start of the game than at the start here tonight."
Anaheim had the better start in the clubs' last meeting on March 2 at Honda Center. The Ducks took a lead 3:17 into the first period, and the Avalanche had to play catchup for the rest of the outing. Colorado had a 20-9 edge in shots over the last two periods but eventually fell 2-1.
"We closed the game alright. I think our start wasn't what we were looking for," Kerfoot said. "Especially we turned the puck over in the beginning of the game, and they capitalized on that. I think we know in front of our home crowd here coming down the stretch, these are games that we need to win, and we know if we play our game we can compete with a lot of teams. We just got to play fast and play the right way."
Tonight's game is the third and final meeting of the season between the Avalanche and Ducks, and it's the only one that will be played in Denver this year. Anaheim is making its first trip to Pepsi Center in nearly 14 months, with the club last competing in the Mile High City on Jan. 15, 2018.

AVALANCHE MILITARY NIGHT

The Avalanche will hold its annual Military Appreciation Night during tonight's game, with the organization honoring servicemembers from each military branch throughout the evening.
The Avs will wear special camouflage jerseys during warmup, which will then be signed by the player and be up for auction at ColoradoAvalanche.com. The auction begins tonight and goes through Monday, March 18. Proceeds benefit the community programs supported by Kroenke Sports Charities, including numerous military organizations.
This is Colorado's eighth Military Appreciation Night, with the team posting a 6-1-0 record in the previous seven. The Avalanche defeated the Coyotes 5-2 in last year's game on March 10, 2018.

TROY TERRY HOMECOMING

Colorado native Troy Terry is expected to skate in his hometown for the first time this evening for the Anaheim Ducks.
Terry, who was drafted by the Ducks in the fifth round in 2015 (No. 148 overall), grew up in Highlands Ranch and has skated in 27 career NHL games after signing his first pro contract late last season. He has four goals and six assists in 25 contests this year for Anaheim and will be playing his second-ever game versus the Avalanche, with his first coming back on March 3 in Southern California.
"I like his vision. He can make plays. He had a good game against us in Anaheim. That was the first time I saw him live," said Avs head coach Jared Bednar of the Ducks rookie. "He looks like he has a lot of potential. He is a guy for me that you got to be careful, you got to watch him, you got to finish him, you got to take his time and space away because he can hurt you on the offensive side of things. It looks like he is a real good passer. If you leave open men, he's going to find them, so you got to take away his time and space as quickly as you can."
Prior to turning pro, Terry skated for three seasons at the University of Denver and helped the Pioneers win the national championship in 2017. He also represented the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, the latter of which he scored the decisive goal in the shootout during the Gold Medal Game against Canada.