Colorado @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2019 ) Colorado 0, Dallas 4

The Colorado Avalanche stayed in the mix for a postseason spot by knocking off one division rival and will look to edge closer to the second wild card when they face another Central opponent. Sitting two points behind eighth-place Arizona, the Avalanche seek a third straight win when they visit the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Colorado is coming off a huge 3-1 victory in Minnesota on Tuesday night that drew the team within one point of the Wild in the congested Western Conference. "I think for us, it was as close as you can get to a must-win this time of year," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I don't know that they needed to win it, but we certainly did to try and get closer and inch closer because the runway's running out." Dallas has plenty of motivation entering the fourth stop of a five-game homestand, holding down the top wild card and trailing third-place St. Louis by two points in the division. Colorado won the first two meetings this season but the Stars rolled to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Avalanche on March 7 behind a hat trick from Alexander Radulov.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), FS Southwest-Plus (Dallas)

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (32-29-12): Defenseman Tyson Barrie has scored three goals in the past two games to reach 10 for the season -- the fifth time in the last six seasons he has recorded double-digit tallies -- and move within a pair of milestones. Barrie has 71 goals in his career, one shy of the franchise record for defensemen set by Sandis Ozolinsh, and also is within one point of reaching 300. Tyson Jost, Colorado's first-round pick in the 2016 draft, also scored against Minnesota to match his career high with 22 points.

ABOUT THE STARS (38-29-6): Coach Jim Montgomery has split up his top line to balance out the offense but he had Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Radulov back together Tuesday and the result was 10 points out of the trio. "I think when certain lines are feeling it -- on different nights we are feeling it pretty good there," Benn said. "When you are getting goals and things are going well, you want to just keep getting put out there." Ben Bishop had his shutout streak halted at 233 minutes, 4 seconds, a span he which he blanked Colorado on 31 saves.

OVERTIME

1. Bishop has allowed three goals during a six-start winning streak but has split 12 career decisions versus Colorado.

2. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov has allowed at least three goals in four straight starts while G Philipp Grubauer has two shutouts in his last four.

3. Seguin has one goal and 10 assists in the past 10 games.

PREDICTION: Stars 3, Avalanche 2