Avalanche determined to finish as top seed after clinching playoff berth

CHICAGO -- The Colorado Avalanche are on a mission.

Sure, they clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with their 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday, but they want to get back to playing their brand of hockey more consistently down the stretch.

“There’s no easy game,” Avalanche forward Brock Nelson said. “It’s nice to clinch (a playoff spot) for sure but big picture, we want to finish on the top and be the No. 1 seed. We know how important that is with the Central, how tight it is. Every game for us is critical for now.”

The Avalanche (45-13-10) hit 100 points with the win and are holding on to first in the Central Division.

Colorado has been the best team in the NHL for 117 game days this season and is just the sixth team over the past 40 years to reach a triple-digit total in a single campaign. But the Avalanche don’t have a stranglehold on first in the division; they’re four points ahead of the second-place Dallas Stars, who have gone 15-1-1 in their past 17 games to stay on their heels.

The Avalanche want to get back to the strong, dominant hockey they played early this season, when they got off to a 15-1-5 start.

“I definitely think you don’t want to be searching for it going into the playoffs," defenseman Josh Manson said. "You want to feel it going in, but in saying that, the hockey we’re playing now until the end of the year is maybe the most important hockey. That’s just how it goes.

“You look at the standings and every game is important. As much as it is fine-tuning, it’s also desperation. We need to find our game and be winning games.”

While the Avalanche find their game again, they’re also finding their health again. Injured forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Logan O'Connor and Ross Colton are all skating, and the hope is that all four can return during this four-game road trip.

Landeskog, the Avalanche captain, and Lehkonen will bolster Colorado's depth scoring when they return. Lehkonen has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games, and Landeskog has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 47 games this season.

“We have a lot of guys waiting in the wings injury-wise and being able to come back, but the lineup overall is just very competitive right now and that just amplifies a lot of play,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “Nobody on this team shies away from that pressure, and that’s an exciting thing to see obviously at this point of the season and hopefully when we get to the playoffs.”

Regardless of lineup, the Avalanche wanted to turn things around after some disappointing results recently. They were especially frustrated after a 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday and wanted a quick response. They got it in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Stars on Wednesday.

“On 5-on-5 we did a number of good things," Nelson said. "We outshot them, felt we controlled most of the game. On the power play we had a big goal and the (penalty kill) did a great job. They’re a pretty dangerous power play.

“Would’ve liked to get one or two to kind of open it up and pull out the win but yeah, I think systematically and structure-wise, we played the game we talked about (with) bouncing back from the Pittsburgh game when we weren’t very clean.”

The Avalanche are heading to the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, tied for the longest active run in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’ve gotten back to their style of hockey the past two games. Now to keep it going.

“It’s a good start, a good start. We’ll be happy about that,” coach Jared Bednar said about the postseason clinching.

“I mean, we like what we’re doing right now. Obviously, there are ebbs and flows to the season, but to this point of the season we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here. We feel good about the way we’re playing. Making the playoffs is the first step to where you want to go and we’re pretty happy about that. Get 100 points and still a lot of season left to play.”