The Colorado Avalanche head north to Alberta for a tightly packed back-to-back, opening Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers in what will be the final regular season meeting between the clubs.

The season series has already delivered extremes. Colorado dismantled Edmonton 9–1 on November 8, only to fall 4–3 on home ice on March 10. Monday offers a rubber match—but it arrives under less-than-ideal circumstances for the Avalanche.

Head coach Jared Bednar will not travel with the team after suffering facial fractures and a corneal abrasion during Saturday’s loss. While surgery isn’t required and a full recovery is expected, his absence leaves assistants Nolan Pratt and Dave Hakstol to guide the bench through both games of the trip—a subtle but meaningful disruption at a critical point in the schedule.

Colorado’s 3–2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday felt like one that lingered.

They had stretches of control. They generated enough offense. But small lapses—one missed coverage, one lost puck battle—proved costly.

Devon Toews opened the scoring on the power play, and Nick Blankenburg—in his first goal with Colorado—helped pull the game back to even in the second period. In net, Mackenzie Blackwood was steady, turning aside 25 shots.

But against elite teams, “steady” isn’t always enough.

Jack Eichel ended it at 1:19 of overtime, finishing a rush chance that felt inevitable the moment it developed.

For all the turbulence, Colorado still leans on one of the most dominant players in the sport.

Nathan MacKinnon continues to drive everything—leading the NHL with 52 goals while sitting near the top of the scoring race with 126 points. His production against Edmonton has been just as reliable: 39 points in 30 regular season games, plus another five in the playoffs.

Alongside him, Martin Necas has quietly built one of the league’s most productive stretches, sitting just shy of the century mark in points and piling up offense at an elite rate since late February.

And while his role has evolved, Gabriel Landeskog remains a factor in this matchup historically, with consistent production against Edmonton across both regular season and playoff play.

Of course, any conversation about the Oilers begins with Connor McDavid.

He leads Edmonton in every major offensive category—goals, assists, and points—and remains the most dangerous player on the ice any given night. Behind him, Evan Bouchard continues to evolve into a high-end offensive defenseman, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins provides secondary scoring depth.

Still, Edmonton enters this one coming off a flat 1–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings—a game where chances were limited and frustration built as the night wore on.

There are signs Colorado is still trending in the right direction, even if the results haven’t always followed.

Since March 1, their power play has clicked at over 27 percent—one of the better marks in the league over that stretch. More recently, their team save percentage has surged, sitting among the NHL’s best since early April.

And then there’s Necas, whose 37 points since late February place him among the most productive players in hockey during that span—a reminder that Colorado’s offense isn’t a one-man show.

This game isn’t just about talent—it’s about response.

How does Colorado handle adversity without Bednar behind the bench?

Can they tighten the defensive details that cost them against Vegas?

And can they slow down McDavid long enough to let their own stars dictate the pace?

Because when these two teams meet, it rarely settles quietly—and the stakes, even in April, tend to feel a little bigger than the standings suggest.