7 games left, 4 on back-to-backs. Scary teams yet to play, but playoffs are clenched. Think they’ll gun it to the end trying to get 7 more W’s or ease up and focus on staying healthy to chase the 16 W’s that really count?
by NinjaBuddha13
@Colorado Avalanche
17 Comments
Kind of depends. I’d say we’re feeling (once again) the loss of Nuke and hitting a mini slump after coming out of the trade deadline looking like literal Gods Among Men.
Their plan from here probably depends a bit on how Dallas and Winnipeg go from here. Dallas has been on a heater and looking hard for us to catch up. Our game with them will be a critical 4 point swing. If we beat them, we probably go balls to the wall to try to pass them for 1st seed. If we lose, we probably just keep it together enough to keep home ice vs the Jets, who have predictably come crashing back down to earth just in time for the postseason.
At the end of the day, every person on the ice is going to try to win every single game. But, similar to the cup year, once we’re down to the final 5 games if there isnt a huge chance of leaping someone in the standings, we probably give big dawgs like Nate and Makar significantly less ice time to keep em fresh for the big push
“Clenched” lol
You tell MacK to take it easy and see how that goes.
almost does not matter whom we play, everybody out west is flawed right now, even the avs
Clenching into the playoffs? Maybe.
They’ll finish the season 4-3 or 3-4 i think, its definitely time to ease up a tiny bit, which doesnt mean throw games obviously, just means that when we’re down a goal or two at the end of the 2nd we dont overplay our starters in the 3rd like we would in January, i think we’ll either win games handedly when things go our way or lose games “embarassingly” like against CBJ or Montreal
Bednar answer last night. It’s a nice to have, but not going to kill guys for it
7 left. 6 against playoff teams. 4 at home. 14 possible points. I want to see them get 10/14 points but that’ll be tough. If they can get 8 I’ll be happy.
I’d be happier if they can get home ice at least until the WCF. Nobody really scares me in the west. It’ll depend on how the Avs show up. No more falling behind and then deciding to play hockey
Overtaking Dallas requires a win in Dallas and to win one more game in the last 7 compared to Dallas.
Dallas definitely has the easier path in the last 7 games compared to the Avs. Even their last back to back is more favorable than either of ours. They get Chicago in Chicago for an afternoon game, then a night game against us. Those are also their only two remaining road games. On paper, Dallas should win at least 4 of their last 7, Chicago, Seattle, Buffalo, and Winnipeg. Edmonton will be a tough game for them and depending how things play out, the Blues could be playing a win game 82 and they are in the playoffs, making Dallas’s last game very interesting.
If it plays out that way and they get one point against us, we would need 12 of our last 14 points to tie and take the Central(based on current tie breakers). Which means we have to win both games of at least one of our back to backs remaining and lose nothing else.
Winning the Central/West is not impossible yet, but boy is it a rough path to make happen. With how well they have performed at home vs on the road, I am sure that has some effect on leadership plans. Winning the Central and possibly the West is overall better based on how they have played this season.
We’re not playing nearly well enough to start coasting. A lot of bugs to work out between now and playoffs.
I feel like both scenarios are doable but ultimately the game against the stars will be very interesting and then playoffs is a totally different mindset so preparing for the playoffs again falls in both ways.
I love this visualization because it really paints a stark contrast between our performance against the West vs the East. I know the Avs have dropped some stinkers this year but those have almost exclusively been against the East, who they wouldn’t meet in the playoffs until the end. I am very happy with their track record against the teams they will have to claw it out against to reach the SCF, obvious exception is Winnipeg, but I really don’t think those games would shake out the same with our current lineup. We’ll see how they do down the stretch against the Oilers and, Jets, and Stars, but so far so good IMO
Mission 16W
*breathes into paper bag*
I feel like we’ll try and stay above the jets and after that chill out a bit
Yeah I will certainly be clenched for the next 4-12 weeks
Health is the most important thing, but it is very helpful to have home ice, at least in the first round.
Even if we don’t catch Dallas we could still finish with enough points to have it in the WCF, should we get that far.
We’ve had home-ice advantage in 11/12 series of our three Cup runs – I’d prefer not to see us coast in and potentially finish behind Winnipeg. Getting it guarantees nothing, but it is an advantage to have any potential Game 7’s played in Ball (despite last season).