So how big is this Avalanche road trip?
Defenseman Francois Beauchemin smiled wryly.
“Bigger than the last one,” he said. “Not as big as the next one.”
Perhaps.
By the time they went to bed Tuesday night in Vancouver, the Avs knew that by the end of their three-game swing through Western Canada, they could be as many as five points ahead of Minnesota in the chase for the second Western Conference wild-card playoff spot … but also as far behind as seven.
After the Wild got a point for a 3-2 overtime loss at Ottawa, Minnesota had a one-point lead (75-74) on the Avalanche. It could have been worse for Colorado, though, since Ottawa scored in the final seconds of regulation to force the OT and ultimately prevented the Wild from getting two points.
That’s one huge road trip — the biggest one of the season so far, and also potentially pivotal.
The Avs are at Vancouver Wednesday, at Calgary Friday and at Edmonton Sunday. Colorado blew a 2-0 lead at Winnipeg Saturday and lost 3-2, then returned to Denver for practices Monday and Tuesday before heading back out on the road.
“They’re all important,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “We’re down the road here and every game is an important game. Unfortunately, we have to play them one at a time and we’re going to start with Vancouver.”
Veteran winger Jarome Iginla took that approach too.
Avs Mailbag:
“I don’t think we can look too far ahead,” he said. “Right now, it’s just Vancouver.”
Center Carl Soderberg allowed himself to be a little more specific. “We need at least two wins,” he said.
The loss at Winnipeg was just the latest example of the Avalanche’s inability to hold leads.
“We need to get bigger leads or defend better,” Soderberg said. “We have to keep attacking, not sit back so much. That’s where we’ve been losing.”
Winger Blake Comeau is Soderberg’s linemate.
“We know how important these points are,” Comeau said. “We’ve done a good job of having good starts. It’s a matter of playing the same way in the third as at the start of the game. We’ve done a good job of getting leads, and it’s just buckling down and finishing games now.
“I think it’s a combination. I think our forecheck’s lacked a little bit in the third. We’ve sat back a little bit with leads. We’ve had turnovers at key moments in games. I think if we can clean those two things up, we’ll be a harder team to play against in the third.”
Said Iginla: “We’ve put ourselves in good positions lately to win games. Let’s get ourselves in that position again and improve in that area. In our last 10 or so we’ve played really strong in the first two periods, and in the third we get away from it a bit. We’ve definitely discussed it, and we want to make sure our mindset is to be just as hungry in the third period.”
Roy noted that the blown leads involved “different situations. I thought we had the momentum going towards the end of the second period (at Winnipeg) and took three penalties in a row. For some reason, that gave them momentum. We need to find ways to trust what we’re doing and maybe have a better understanding of what brings us success early in the game. And then we have to bring that into the third period.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @TFrei
COLORADO AT VANCOUVER, 8 p.m. Tuesday, ALT, 950 AM.
Spotlight on Sven Baertschi:
The Swiss winger had the game-winning goal for the Canucks in a 3-1 victory at Denver on Feb. 9. Baertschi came over to play major junior with the Portland Winterhawks and was Calgary’s first-round choice in 2011. He split time with the Flames and their American Hockey League affiliates before he was traded to the Canucks at the deadline last year for a second-round choice. He’s playing under a one-year, $900,000 contract and can be a restricted free agent in July.
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche:
Semyon Varlamov is scheduled to get the start in net against the Canucks on Wednesday and at Calgary on Friday, with Calvin Pickard playing at Edmonton on Sunday. … Defenseman Chris Bigras, who has missed three games with a concussion, was in an orange, no-contact jersey at practice Tuesday. He said he hadn’t suffered any setbacks since more extensive involvement in a regular practice jersey Monday, but as of Tuesday afternoon, he still needed to pass one additional protocol test to be able to play. It seems unlikely he will play at Vancouver, but he is on the trip and could return to the lineup at some point.
Canucks:
Like the Avalanche, the Canucks are coming off a loss to lowly Winnipeg — in their case, a 5-2 trouncing at home Monday night. … Vancouver has gone 0-16 on the power play in the past four games. … The Canucks are 26th in the NHL in goal scoring, averaging 2.4 goals per game. … Defenseman Dan Hamhuis, a bit surprisingly, still is with the Canucks after a proposed deal that would have sent him to Chicago at the trading deadline never was finalized.
