"Obviously a few months ago, it was an unsure position," Predators forward Mike Ribeiro said. "Now we have a chance to put ourselves in the playoffs. Obviously Colorado is a pretty good team and is still trying to chase us. It'd be a great feeling in this room if we can clinch tonight."
Nashville defenseman Roman Josi has 56 points, which is tied for the most points in a season by a defenseman in team history. Defenseman Shea Weber had 56 points in 2013-14.
Colorado will be without forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene against Nashville on Monday and the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Duchene has missed four games, and MacKinnon three, with knee injuries.
Duchene skated Sunday but MacKinnon hasn't yet, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said.
The Avalanche lost 4-0 to the Wild at Pepsi Center on Saturday. The players still believe they have what it takes to close the gap and make a push for the playoffs.
"We're still in it," Avalanche forward Shawn Matthias said. "We're going to keep battling right to the end. We're going to be positive, stick with our process and just keep battling. You never know what's going to happen in this League. Crazier things have happened so we're going to keep playing hard, take it one game at a time and be ready to compete when the puck drops tonight."
Here are the projected lineups:
AVALANCHE
Shawn Matthias - Carl Soderberg - Gabriel Landeskog
Mikkel Boedker - Mikhail Grigorenko - Blake Comeau
Andreas Martinsen - John Mitchell - Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod -- Andrew Agozzino - Jack Skille
Chris Bigras - Erik Johnson
Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Nikita Zadorov
Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Zach Redmond, Andrew Bodnarchuk
Injured: Matt Duchene (knee), Nathan MacKinnon (knee), Eric Gelinas (elbow), Jesse Winchester (concussion), Brad Stuart (back)
PREDATORS
Calle Jarnkrok - Ryan Johansen - James Neal
Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - Viktor Arvidsson
Eric Nystrom - Colton Sissons - Miikka Salomaki
Roman Josi - Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm - Petter Granberg
Barret Jackman - Ryan Ellis
Pekka Rinne
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Austin Watson
Injured: Paul Gaustad (upper body), Anthony Bitetto (lower body), Gabriel Bourque (upper body)
Status report: Agozzino and Zadorov were recalled form San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Sunday. … Varlamov will start for the Avalanche. … Rinne was the first goaltender off of the ice for the Predators and is expected to start.
Who's hot: Barrie has two goals in his past four games and leads Colorado defensemen with 47 points. … Neal has seven goals and three assists in his past six games.
