Avalanche become first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season

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CHICAGO (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot on Friday night.

That development had been just a matter of time for a while. But the way they secured the franchise’s ninth consecutive postseason appearance, well, that was important.

Colorado strengthened its hold on the Western Conference with a sharp performance at Chicago in the opener of a four-game trip. Martin Necas, Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin scored in a 4-1 victory over the lowly Blackhawks.

“I think if we just play like that, there isn’t many games we’re going to lose,” Necas said. “Just a strong overall game. … Just keep it rolling.”

Colorado (45-13-10) had dropped four of five, including an ugly 7-2 home loss to a Pittsburgh team playing without Sidney Crosby at the time. But Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was encouraged by how the team played in a 2-1 shootout loss to Dallas on Wednesday night, and the momentum carried over to the win at Chicago — particularly in a dominant first and third periods.

With the victory, the Avalanche moved four points ahead of the Stars and 10 clear of the Minnesota Wild at the top of the Western Conference. Dallas and Minnesota were off Friday.

The Avalanche clinched a playoff spot in fewer than 70 games for the third time in franchise history during an 82-game season. They accomplished the feat in 67 games in 1996-97 and 69 games in 2000-01.

“It’s a good start. Yeah, we’ll be happy about that,” Bednar said. “We like what we’re doing right now. Obviously there’s ebbs and flows to the season, but I think to this point in the season, if you look at it as a whole, we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here. We feel good about the way we’re playing.”

It looked as if Colorado was going to run away with the Central Division when it was 33-4-7 after a 4-0 victory over Columbus on Jan. 10. But Dallas rallied with a 15-1-1 stretch going into Saturday’s game at Minnesota.

The high-scoring Avalanche managed a total of four goals in three games before the victory over the Blackhawks. It looks as if they might have some help on the way, too.

Captain Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) and fellow forwards Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Logan O’Connor (hip) and Ross Colton (upper body) are on their way back from injuries. O’Connor hasn’t played this season after having surgery in June.

“They’re all on the road with us because they all have a chance to be back at some point,” Bednar said. “This is one of our biggest road trips of the year. … We could see guys as early as Sunday, and some guys maybe not till later in the road trip. But the goal would be to try and get them all in before we head home.”

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