ANAHEIM, Calif. — With its playoff hopes all but at the Fantasyland stages, the will finish its 2014-15 road schedule Friday at Anaheim against the Ducks and Saturday at Los Angeles against the Kings.
Colorado is eight points behind Winnipeg, which holds the second of the two Western Conference wild-card playoff slots, and the Jets don’t play again until Saturday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks.
If the Avalanche (35-30-12) wins its final five games to reach 92 points, Winnipeg still could finish ahead of Colorado for playoff purposes with only two points in its last five. But there are other complications for the Avalanche, because it also would have to climb over three other teams to reach a playoff berth. Regardless, if they lose in regulation Friday at Anaheim, there is no way the Avs can pass the Jets.
, Avs coach Patrick Roy said he would stick with his previously announced short-term goaltending rotation, coming back with Reto Berra against Anaheim and going with Semyon Varlamov against Los Angeles. He added that the rotation would continue through the three-game homestand, with Varlamov likely facing the Nashville Predators on Tuesday and the Chicago Blackhawks on April 11, with Berra playing Thursday against Winnipeg.
Berra made 25 saves against the Sharks in his third appearance in five games and didn’t have much of a chance on any of San Jose’s first three goals. In the second period, Avalanche winger Dennis Everberg blocked two slap shots by Brent Burns, but after Burns retrieved the puck again, his pass to the front of the net was tipped by Scott Hannan past Berra.
In the third period, Berra made two saves in close before Sharks rookie Chris Tierney collected the loose puck and scored to make it 2-0. Patrick Marleau was uncovered in the slot on his goal that made it 3-1, and the Sharks added two empty-netters.
“I thought he played really well. He was very good in the first,” Roy said of Berra. “A few nice tips in front of him and I thought he did a really good job. I was very happy with his performance.”
After Varlamov was the ironman for much of the season, and with Calvin Pickard playing well when called up from Lake Erie to fill in as the starter when Varlamov was injured, Berra clearly is on trial down the stretch as the Avs attempt to decide whether to write off the Swiss goalie. He was acquired in March 2014 and signed to a three-year extension. He is under contract through 2016-17.
Berra said of his showing against the Sharks: “It was good but not good enough. Could be a little bit better today, but overall, I’m happy. I didn’t play that much in the past, so I have to go step by step and go with the positive things I did. I did a lot of positive things today.”
Berra noted that it’s “just my second year in the league, especially this year, I didn’t play much. I cannot think like I can go right away to the top. I have to really stay focused and use every practice, especially every game I can, to do the little things right.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.
COLORADO AT ANAHEIM 8 p.m. Friday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Bruce Boudreau: Patrick Roy’s antagonist in the Avalanche coach’s first regular-season game behind the bench in 2013, Boudreau wasn’t giddy about the Ducks clinching a third consecutive Pacific Division title Wednesday. “It’s actually fairly subdued in there,” Boudreau told reporters after Anaheim’s 5-1 victory over Edmonton. “Not taking anything away from anything, but we’ve had a fairly good lead for a while now. It would be more surprising if we didn’t get the division. It’s business as usual.”
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: In the midst of playing three games in four nights, Colorado didn’t practice Thursday in Southern California. … This will be the Avalanche’s second appearance at the Honda Center in two weeks. The Avs lost 3-2 to the Ducks in overtime March 20. … Winger Jordan Caron, who was acquired from Boston at the NHL trade deadline, still doesn’t have a point this season in 14 games with Colorado and 11 with the Bruins.
Ducks: Anaheim went 3-2 on its recent Eastern swing, winning the final three. The Ducks have won four in a row, and have hit the 50-win benchmark. … The Ducks were the first NHL team to clinch a division title. … Going into Thursday’s games, the Ducks had a four-point lead on the Rangers and Nashville in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the regular season’s No. 1 team overall. … Anaheim has only three games left. Second-line center Ryan Kesler, nursing a minor arm injury, didn’t play against Edmonton — and the Ducks might give another skater or two a game off. … In their only meeting in Denver this season, the Ducks defeated the Avalanche 3-2 on Nov. 2. … Pesky right wing Corey Perry has a goal in each of the Ducks’ two victories over Colorado. Terry Frei, The Denver Post
