NHL leaders conclude season series as Avalanche battle Stars

The Colorado Avalanche were treated to a dose of reality this week in advance of their fourth and final meeting with the Central Division rival Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar can only hope his team will heed the wake-up call as it goes on the road to face the Stars.

Colorado left a lot to be desired in an 8-6 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. The Canucks have the worst record in the NHL, but they pounded Colorado (49-15-10, 108 points), which has lost two of its last three games.

"I think if we're making excuses for that performance, it's gonna be a short (playoff) run," Bednar said, according to The Hockey News.

Sam Malinski had two goals and an assist for the Avalanche, while Brent Burns added a goal and an assist. Devon Toews had two assists as the three Avalanche defensemen combined for seven points.

Missing defenseman Cale Makar didn't help. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled with 4:39 remaining in the second period after allowing six goals on 19 shots.

"He's one of 20. That's all I can say," Bednar said of Blackwood. "One of 20 guys that wasn't good enough."

Nathan MacKinnon became the NHL's first 50-goal scorer this season.

Central-leading Colorado still has won five of its past seven games and is six points ahead of second-place Dallas with less than two weeks to play.

Burns is set to become just the second NHL player to take the ice in 1,000 consecutive games.

"It's impressive to play that many games, let alone that many games in a row," Makar said, according to NHL.com. "It's just ridiculous."

The Stars (45-19-12, 102 points), second to Colorado not only in the division but in the league-wide standings, have taken the Avalanche to a shootout in each of the teams' previous three games this season. The Stars came out on top in the shootout twice.

Dallas was in a 2-5-2 rut before goalie Jake Oettinger and company blanked the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Thursday.

Oettinger made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season, but first in nearly four months.

Adam Erne and Arttu Hyry each had a goal and an assist for Dallas, which ended a three-game home losing streak.

"Lately, I've been trying to work on just staying in it the whole game," Oettinger said. "It's pretty easy to doze off, and next thing you know, it's in the back of your net."

Oettinger now faces the Avalanche, who have won four straight on the road and 10 of their last 11 away from home.

"When you go to the playoffs, you can't just flip a switch and get going," Erne said. "It's something you have to build toward. I think we want to finish these last seven games or so and put ourselves in a spot here where we're happy with our game come Game 1 of the playoffs."