Denver, Colo. - The Colorado Avalanche return home to Ball Arena after a successful trip north of the border. In three games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens, the Avalanche went 2-1-0 and currently occupy the 3rd place spot in the Central Division with 89 points. They sit five points behind the Dallas Stars, with a game in hand on the Avalanche. The Minnesota Wild hold the first wild card spot and sit four points behind the Avalanche.

The Detroit Red Wings, amid a close battle for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, look to get the upper hand on the Avalanche tonight for an important two points.

Regardless of the conference, every point matters at this point in the season. The Avalanche have 11 games left on their schedule before the postseason begins. With 22 possible points on the line, Head Coach Jared Bednar believes the Avalanche still have a lot to play for.

We're trying to track down Dallas and stay ahead of [Minnesota], but I think big picture, if we get to where we want to go, we can gain back home Ice if we stay ahead of six or seven teams that we're also fighting with in [our] conference, in the league. I think it's important to have something to push for, and I think we certainly do at this point, as well as not losing sight of still fine-tuning our game and experimenting with some things that we want to see and that could possibly help us in the playoffs.