Avalanche, Stars battle for playoff position

As the battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins to heat up, the Colorado Avalanche are looking to steal it away from the Dallas Stars.

The Avalanche have closed the gap on the Stars for second place in the Central Division in recent weeks and can draw even closer with a win against visiting Dallas on Sunday afternoon in Denver.

Colorado has gone 7-0-1 in its past eight games to pull within three points of the Stars, but the Avalanche have also played two more games than Dallas. Colorado has 15 games remaining and the Stars have 17.

The second-place finisher in each division hosts the third-place team in the first round. Sunday's matinee will also be the rubber match of the three-game series between Colorado and Dallas, with each team splitting the first two matchups.

"Just one game at a time," said Colorado forward Parker Kelly, who scored two goals in a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Friday night. "You don't want to look too far in advance and you don't want to dwell if things aren't going well. It's just a pretty even keel group here."

Dallas took on the first-place Winnipeg Jets on Friday night and lost 4-1, dropping the Stars 10 points out of the top spot in the division.

The Stars have lost two of three since the March 7 trade deadline, when they added high-scoring winger Mikko Rantanen. He scored a goal in each of his first two games with Dallas but was held off the scoresheet against the Jets.

"We're learning about ourselves, we're learning about the best teams in the conference and what we have to do to compete," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "There are some good lessons in the game (against Winnipeg) for us."

The Jets clogged up the neutral zone against Dallas and limited its prime scoring opportunities, even though Winnipeg was outshot 25-22.

"We've just got to flush that one and get ready for the next one," Dallas forward Mason Marchment said. "It's just as big a game as the next one. You have to let this one fuel you and put it behind you."

The Avalanche made some big moves at the trade deadline as well, adding centers Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury. That showed the rest of the team that the front office was just as serious as they were about reclaiming a Stanley Cup title.

"Management showed they had faith in us with what they did at the deadline," Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood said. "I think the room knew what we had, and once you bring in the bodies that we did, and the depth down the middle, it really kind of turned the tide to a full confidence boost around the room. We started playing with some confidence, grabbing points and we need to continue to do so."

Of course, those additions squeezed some players out of the lineup but also created some healthy competition.

"We're a really deep forward group now," Kelly said. "It's kind of ‘next man up' mentality. You're not thinking too much about it. You just want to, when you're in, do your job and keep doing the things you're doing well."

--Field Level Media