The Colorado Avalanche could claim the President’s Trophy with just two points on Thursday against the Calgary Flames. With a victory, the Avalanche could also nail home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The last time the Avs won the President’s Trophy was in 2020–21, when they suffered a devastating loss in the second round to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Colorado Avalanche (51–16–10, 112 pts)

Colorado found retribution on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues by ending their hopes for the playoffs. With the 3–1 victory in the Gateway to the West, the Avs not only secured the Central Division but also won the Western Conference. After missing one game, Valeri Nichushkin lit the lamp twice. One of them was shorthanded and could be a goal of the year candidate. Scott Wedgewood proved himself once more, stopping 18 of 19 shots faced. And that was after being run into by a Blues player and taking a goalpost to the back. Unfortunately, Nazem Kadri left the game early with a hand injury that may keep him out for a few games.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Gabriel Landeskog – Nic Roy – Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak – Josh Manson
Nick Blankenburg – Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood 

Calgary Flames (32–39–9, 73 pts)

The Flames may be one of the worst teams in the NHL, but they pushed the Dallas Stars to overtime on Tuesday night. Wyatt Johnston scored the game-winning goal in a 4–3 win for the Stars in Dallas. It was his second goal of the night as the Flames continue to flop in the Pacific Division. Three unanswered goals by the Flames kept them in the hunt for a win, but then the Stars turned up the heat.

Projected Lines

Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Matvei Gridin
Aydar Suniev – Ryan Strome – Martin Pospisil
Yegor Sharangovich – Connor Zary – Adam Klapka

Kevin Bahl – Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov – Zayne Parekh
Olli Maatta – Hunter Brzustewicz

Dustin Wolf
Devin Cooley

Game Details

Time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, KUSA (Channel 9), KTVD (My20) SNW (CGY), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950