Vancouver @ Colorado preview
Ball Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2025 ) Colorado 0, Vancouver 3
The Colorado Avalanche have a slim chance to overtake the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division, and they have the Vancouver Canucks to thank.
The Canucks rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final minute to beat the Stars in overtime Tuesday night, leaving the door ajar. Colorado (48-27-4, 100 points) trails Dallas by six points and hopes the Stars lose their last four games in regulation. The Avalanche would need to win their last three games, starting with Thursday night against the Canucks in Denver.
Colorado star forward Nathan MacKinnon will sit out versus Vancouver and likely the team's final two regular season games to boot, head coach Jared Bednar said on Thursday afternoon.
MacKinnon, who is nursing an undisclosed injury, is tied with Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 116 points.
The reigning Hart Trophy recipient, MacKinnon leads the NHL with 84 assists in 79 games this season.
The Canucks (36-29-13, 85 points) still have something to play for, too. They trail Minnesota and St. Louis by eight points in the wild-card standings. Tuesday's comeback win kept their postseason hopes alive.
Vancouver became the first team to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minute of regulation.
"It's crazy the resilience," said Kiefer Sherwood, who won it with 1:16 left in overtime. "I've never been part of a team that has so many crazy comebacks, and so much roller coaster come-from-behinds. It says a lot about the group and the quality of players. When adversity hits, we just dig in and guys are able to execute and make stuff happen.
"We'll feel good about this but then we've got to move on and start to prepare for the next one. We know each and every game is crucial right now."
Center Pius Suter tied Tuesday's game with two goals in the final 30 seconds to give him 24 for the season, which is third on Vancouver. Brock Boeser (49 points) and Jake DeBrusk (45 points) lead the team with 25 goals apiece while defenseman Quinn Hughes' 74 points (16 goals, 56 assists) sets the pace for the Canucks.
Colorado also rallied to win Tuesday night, although not as dramatically, beating Vegas 3-2 in a shootout. The two points clinched at least third place and marked the fourth straight season the Avalanche have reached 100 points.
They know the chances are remote they can catch the Stars and the last three games could be meaningless for playoff positioning, but effort is important at this point.
"We're still doing some good things," Bednar said. "It seems like we're having a little trouble getting going for these games, which I understand."
Cale Makar is second on the team in scoring with 91 points (30 goals, 61 assists) and Martin Necas, who was acquired from Carolina on Jan. 24, has 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists).
Necas has 11 goals in 27 games with the Avalanche since coming over in the Mikko Rantanen trade.
Colorado center Ross Colton missed Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day, but the larger focus is on captain Gabe Landeskog playing his first professional game in nearly three years.
Landeskog, who has missed the last three seasons with a right knee injury that has required four different procedures, is on a three-game conditioning assignment with the Colorado Eagles to help determine if he is a viable option for the postseason.
--Field Level Media