WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — No morning skate here for the Avalanche. Local puck drop is 5 p.m. CT. Here’s our .
Winnipeg is 1-7-1 in its last nine home games. The Jets might be without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who left early in Thursday’s 3-2 loss at Detroit.
Tentative Avalanche lineup (4 p.m. CT meeting):
Grigorenko-Duchene-Iginla
Boedker-MacKinnon-Comeau
Matthias-Soderberg-Martinsen
McLeod-Mitchell-Skille
Beauchemin-Johnson
Holden-Barrie
Gelinas-Redmond
Varlamov
Pickard
Tonight’s game begins a stretch against four Canadian teams, each on the outside of the playoff picture. The Avs will return to Denver tonight and fly to Vancouver on Tuesday. They play the Canucks on Wednesday, the Calgary Flames on Friday and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, March 20. Colorado (74 points) leads Minnesota (72) for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. The Wild has a game in hand and the Avs own the first tiebreaker, regulation or overtime wins (ROW), 32-30.
Colorado’s final nine games:
THU MAR 24 FLYERS at AVALANCHE
SAT MAR 26 WILD at AVALANCHE
MON MAR 28 AVALANCHE at PREDATORS
TUE MAR 29 AVALANCHE at BLUES
FRI APR 1 CAPITALS at AVALANCHE
SUN APR 3 BLUES at AVALANCHE
TUE APR 5 AVALANCHE at PREDATORS
THU APR 7 AVALANCHE at STARS
SAT APR 9 DUCKS at AVALANCHE
Minnesota begins a three-game trip tonight at Montreal. The Wild visit Ottawa and New Jersey before returning home next Saturday against the Hurricanes. The Wild’s final 10 games:
SUN MAR 20 WILD at BLACKHAWKS
TUE MAR 22 KINGS at WILD
THU MAR 24 FLAMES at WILD
SAT MAR 26 WILD at AVALANCHE
TUE MAR 29 BLACKHAWKS at WILD
THU MAR 31 SENATORS at WILD
FRI APR 1 WILD at RED WINGS
SUN APR 3 WILD at JETS
TUE APR 5 SHARKS at WILD
SAT APR 9 FLAMES at WILD
Interesting people in Minnesota, where hockey hair is for everybody:
