Colorado takes Central Division title with win over Nashville

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche will play a crucial game against the Nashville Predators Friday night to determine who they face in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a win, the Avalanche win the Central Division and face the first wild-card-placed Seattle Kraken. With a loss, they will face the third-place division-rival Minnesota Wild.

“We’ve known since we got the point the other night that if we take care of our business, we’ll be first in the division. So that’s our focus,” coach Jared Bednar said before the win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Manson back in lineup for postseason

One thing is for sure, Josh Manson will return to the ice for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is expected to play in Game 1 of the first-round series after being out with a lower-body injury since March 1. He said this particular injury has been difficult because it was a re-injury to something he had already dealt with and missed games from earlier in the season.

“Definitely when it happened the second time, I was like ‘ugh, what now?’ That mental reset, kind of like ‘what’s the plan, where do we go from here, is it going to get better?’” Manson said Thursday. “I’d be lying if I said those thoughts didn’t come through my mind, you just gotta trust and stay the course, I guess.”

And in typical fashion for the Avalanche this season, Manson’s return is a step in the right direction for the team but it also took two steps back losing Andrew Cogliano and Denis Malgin in the Winnipeg game.

Cogliano and Malgin hurt; no timetable for Makar and Helm returns

Bednar said Cogliano suffered an upper-body injury and he has no timetable for his return. He didn’t disclose what Malgin’s injury was but also did not have a specific time frame other than he’ll be out against the Predators Friday night.

"Every time someone gets hurt, there's concern that it could be serious or longer than what it takes," Bednar said. "But we just have to keep moving on, moving forward. Hopefully, we'll get good information over the next couple of days on both of them."

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will not return for the playoffs because of a knee injury that’s kept him out all season. In a news conference before Thursday night’s game, Landeskog said he would continue to travel with the team and be with them as much as possible for their sake and his own.

“You know, it's one thing to be around the team and go through an injury in the regular season but playoffs is just a different type of focus and different type of preparation and all of that. So, I'll be around as much as the guys want me. Obviously, nothing will change in terms of how I act around the guys or things like that,” Landeskog said.

Any player that has dealt with an injury that has taken them out for more than a few games understands the importance of being with the team and how being away from the group can impact their attitude.

“The mental side of it’s huge, not knowing how it’s going to get better … but also being away from the team, right? Like you want to be in the room, you want to be on the road, you want to be playing games, in the locker room, that’s a huge part of hockey, what makes it so fun,” Manson said. “So when you’re out of that, there’s definitely that routine … it kind of throws you a little bit.”

Bednar has not said when Cale Makar or Darren Helm (both lower-body injuries) will be back but both are pivotal to the team’s success in the postseason as shown in last year’s Stanley Cup championship run.