DENVER — Fan appreciation night was a disappointment for the Colorado Avalanche and their fans in the final regular-season matchup at Ball Arena. The Vancouver Canucks took it in a 4-1 final.

In the grand scheme of things, there wasn’t anything to play for for both sides. The absence of quality players for both teams didn’t help either. Nonetheless, there’s not much to take away from this one besides another tally in the loss column.

First Period

Colorado put themselves on the back foot with back-to-back penalties by Martin Necas and Samuel Girard. Both were killed off, with Girard having a nice chance right out of the box, which was stopped by Kevin Lankinen.

In just the first half of the period, the noticeable absence of Nathan MacKinnon was pertinent. The game was slow and didn’t have much flow for Colorado.

They did eventually get a few chances from Miles Wood, Artturi Lehkonen, and Valeri Nichushkin. All were either stopped or found the crossbar. It helped swing momentum in the Avalanche’s favor, but it was still scoreless after 20 minutes.

Second Period

Vancouver vaulted itself ahead with the great play of Kiefer Sherwood. He pulled off a nice toe drag move to get around a defender and feed the puck in front. Jake DeBrusk managed to get enough on it to deflect it over Mackenzie Blackwood and in for the lead.

Sherwood didn’t stop there, though. He released a wicked wrister from the far circle, which went top shelf to double the lead for the Canucks.

Colorado continued to look lethargic and slow, as they did to open the game. But finally, things started going their way in the closing minutes. It started with Necas getting a great look at the far circle, which Lankinen got just enough of his blocker on to stop it.

The Avalanche finally struck thanks to Devon Toews. He and Charlie Coyle switched spots, as the forward’s shot from the blue line was deflected down low by the defender to cut the lead in half.

Girard would give the Avs another shot to tie things up when he got a stick to the face. While Colorado couldn’t convert, they had momentum going into the final 20 minutes of regular-season hockey at Ball Arena.

Third Period

Cale Makar found himself in some discomfort when he got a stick to the face for the second time in the game. Again, it came from Nils Hoglander, and again, it went uncalled. Shortly after, he blocked a shot in his midsection, and he needed some time to recover.

Colorado didn’t have many chances, but one great chance went missing. Jimmy Vesey had a phenomenal look in the slot, which was denied point-blank by Lankinen. It ended up hurting them, as Dakota Joshua finished off a rebound to make it 3-1 Canucks.

Logan O’Connor did his best to swing momentum back in his team’s favor. He and defenseman Elias Pettersson dropped the gloves after a disagreement when the play ended, leading to a good bout.

The Avalanche managed to lead the game in shots, but they didn’t take advantage. Neither did they find much to propel off of. They pulled Blackwood down two goals, but couldn’t find the twine. Artturi Lehkonen smacked the iron again in his continued dry streak, and Nils Hoglander sealed it with an empty-netter and the 4-1 win for the Canucks.

Observations From the Mountaintop

This ended up being a slow game all around. At the end of the day, there isn’t too much to take away from this one. Both the Avs and Canucks had their fate already sealed when the regular season ends next week, and it was a matter of simply going through the motions to wrap things up. While it’s a bummer for the home fans for fan appreciation night, there are bigger fish to fry for the home team and their fans in a few weeks.

Part of the reason why it was a slower game than usual was because of the makeshift lineup. MacKinnon was dealing with a little nagging injury and was held out of the home finale. The speed alone was missing, alongside Jonathan Drouin. Even with Necas back playing center, and Girard on the blue line, there wasn’t much more to springboard off of with a key guy missing. It might be the same in the final two games of the season, with Jared Bednar hinting at giving both Toews and Makar time off before the postseason.

Speaking of the postseason, it’s all but set for the Avalanche. Barring any crazy stuff in the final three games, the Jets have all but locked up the Central Division title. They shut out the Dallas Stars in Texas earlier Thursday night to seal their fate. This means the Stars will finish second and set up a matchup with the Avalanche in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The rematch of the second round series from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs has all the storylines. Rematch aside, Mikko Rantanen will face his former side when the stakes are the highest. Of course, people can’t forget Matt Duchene eliminating his boyhood team in double overtime in Game 6 last year. Nonetheless, a Western gargantuan will fall in the first round – and it’s sure to be a doozy of a series.

Next Game

Colorado heads out West for its final two games of the regular season. They’ll start with the first game of a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Kings at 2:00 p.m. MT on Saturday.