Big Win - Playoff Push

[Hybridreamer]

Now that was a huge win against Dallas last night. I know we played awful a majority of the game but we came away with the win and now we're one spot out. How do you think our playoff chances are looking now?

Btw we've got the hated Red Wings next.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, the competition for the WC spots in the West should be fierce, and yes, the Avs are in that right now, but honestly, they've still got their work cut out for them.

 

If the Avs played 'awful the majority of the game' against a Dallas team that has a propensity to let teams back in the game anyways, what are the Avs gonna do against teams like the Wings, Wild, Jets and Rangers (their next four opponents).....teams who are much more defensively responsible and probably won't give the Avs those same opportunities to get back in games?

 

Granted, the Avs do have the talent level to rip off a nice win streak even against good teams, but they haven't really gotten things together all year....so why should we believe they are going to all of a sudden do it now?

 

Some things are working in the Avs favor right now though:

-- their schedule has lots of home games for them in the near future

-- two of the next four teams, the Wild and Jets, have been anything but rock solid...Minnesota has lately, but I must wait n see if they are for real or not (they too haven't gotten all their ducks in a row all season, just like the Avs), and the Jets have struggled quite a bit lately, despite having a large, tough grinding group that had found some offensive success recently.

--finally, Patrick Roy knows how a team should function come crunch time...and time doesn't crunch anymore than it is now for the Avs. I am sure he is doing all he can to get his team to see the big picture, keep everyone in a positive mode, and daring his team to will their way to wins...which is how Patrick seemed to play in his day.

 

For any team below Vancouver and Calgary, they'd have to play lights out the rest of the way and the WC teams will really have to falter.

So far, the Jets have been co-operating with the faltering part, but they still have a decent lead in points, while the Canucks and Flames keep jockeying for position between guaranteed top three in the Pacific to Wild Card in the Conference.

 

This means the Avs, Wild, Stars, and Kings just have to keep winning, winning, winning just to keep pace.

 

Gonna be tough sledding still for Colorado and their immediate surrounding teams.