Avalanche Set Sights on Presidents’ Trophy Against Flames

The Colorado Avalanche are on the verge of achieving a significant milestone as they prepare to host the Calgary Flames. Having already secured the top seed in the Western Conference, the Avalanche are focused on clinching the Presidents’ Trophy, which would grant them home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With just two points needed from their final five games, their first chance to accomplish this comes Thursday night.

Colorado (51-16-10, 112 points) solidified their position at the summit of the conference following a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. This triumph marks a culmination of hard work, as the Avalanche have held the NHL’s best record since December 1. The only team still within striking distance is the Carolina Hurricanes, who trail by six points with four games left on their schedule. Colorado also holds the advantage in their season series against Carolina, going 1-0-1.

“We set our goals at the start of the year, and we wanted to be on top,” said captain Gabriel Landeskog following the win against St. Louis. “That’s a big step. We know it doesn’t mean anything come playoff time, other than we get an extra game at home every series.”

However, the victory came at a cost, as forward Nazem Kadri exited the game after blocking a shot late in the second period, sustaining a finger injury that will sideline him for an undisclosed period. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed on Altitude Radio that Kadri will miss time, although no specific timeline has been established. Kadri, who was traded from Calgary to Colorado on March 6, leads the Flames in scoring with 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) and has contributed nine points (four goals, five assists) in 16 games since joining the Avalanche.

Adding to Colorado’s challenges, star defenseman Cale Makar has been out with an upper-body injury since March 30, a setback he ironically suffered against Calgary. The silver lining is that Makar is expected to return before the regular season concludes.

On the opposing side, the Calgary Flames (32-36-9, 73 points) find themselves playing out the string after being officially eliminated from playoff contention following a Nashville Predators win on Monday. Nonetheless, the Flames showed resilience in their recent outing against the Dallas Stars, taking a 3-1 lead into the third period before ultimately falling 4-3 in overtime.

“I liked our game,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said postgame. “There was a lot of our game where I thought we played hard. We did a good job away from the pucks, thought we had some lengthy shifts in the offensive zone. … At the end of the night, again, you’re taking penalties against a very good power play. That’s tough.”

Calgary also faced an injury setback, as defenseman Kevin Bahl logged just two shifts before departing with a lower-body issue, with no further updates provided after the game.

This matchup marks the second meeting in a tightly packed schedule, with the two teams set to clash three times within just nine games. After not facing each other earlier this season, they will conclude this series next Tuesday in Calgary.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.