The Colorado Avalanche face tough teams in the last half dozen games but head coach Jared Bednar said he will pace his team before games get more intense in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Four Colorado Avalanche players had multi-point games in the 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Nathan MacKinnon earned his seventh 4-plus point game and 40th multi-point game this season. Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen notched three points each while Jonathan Drouin got two. The intensity and physicality against a top team proved the Avalanche can win against any team when they play to their identity — which their best may not have been seen yet. "You've seen teams that have to battle their way into the playoffs — down stretch runs, fighting for playoff spots, fighting for seeding, home ice, whatever it is or you just continue to play at a high intensity when playoffs start so not really worried about that with our team," head coach Jared Bednar said after the victory over the Predators. "We've talked about trying to finish as high as we can to get home ice and I'm not going to kill the guys to do that. You know, we'll have to be smart about it. But I mean when you're playing good teams, you have no choice but to play hard and play well otherwise you won't win." Colorado faces off against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night and may not be at the level as the last game, but every game counts. "It's only going to be just more good tests every single night. We're just going to have to keep playing these games and making sure that we're physically in tune and mentally in check and then also systematically good as well," Makar said. The Avalanche officially clinched a playoff berth with the win but there was not a doubt they would get a spot. “It was just going to happen eventually, I guess. Our goal is to win and obviously getting into the playoffs is really hard and you just have to get in and anything can happen," Nathan MacKinnon said. "Really happy with how our game has come along here since the trade deadline honestly, so yeah, it’s nice to be in.” RECENT COLORADO AVALANCHE ARTICLES 'It's awesome that we're playing tough competition before it gets even harder': Nathan MacKinnon looking forward to challenging matchup with Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/game-day/nathan-mackinnon-looking-forward-to-challenging-matchup-with-predators] Nathan MacKinnon's home point scoring streak ends at 35 games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/nathan-mackinnons-home-point-scoring-streak-ends-at-35-games]
