ST. LOUIS \u2014 There was very little fanfare Tuesday night in the\u00a0 Avalanche locker room.<\/p>\n
The Avs had just checked off two of their three most-important goals for the regular season in one fell swoop. Colorado clinched the Central Division title and the top spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was eight years to the day that Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon helped the Avs return to the playoffs by defeating these Blues at Ball Arena in a Game 82, winner-take-all showdown for a golden ticket to the NHL\u2019s postseason tournament. This was a very different postgame atmosphere.<\/p>\n It felt like another Tuesday night in a season full of them. Landeskog even feigned ignorance about what they had just accomplished.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not all the way there yet,\u201d Avs coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cThe goal for us started with winning the division and the conference (but) we still need another win to get first overall. We\u2019d be crazy not to chase that at this point. It\u2019s important, if you get to where you want to go, you might as well try and get your home ice, especially after a season like this.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels great. I mean, we\u2019re not throwing parades or that kind of stuff yet so, but we\u2019re happy with where we\u2019re at. We should celebrate it a little bit, because it\u2019s a big goal of ours to start the year and we\u2019ve accomplished part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n For a group that has been in Stanley Cup or bust mode for at least the past six seasons, the Avs have kept the focus on what got them here \u2014 the process that led to a historic 31-2-7 start<\/a>, and allows them to lock in and dominate a desperate team with far more motivation to show up and play well on a Tuesday night like this one.<\/p>\n How they played against the Blues was more important than celebrating a season-long accomplishment.<\/p>\n \u201cOur focus has been trying to get our game to a point where we feel really about it defensively and offensively,\u201d Landeskog said. \u201cI really liked our game (Tuesday) night. I thought all four lines checked really hard. We created a lot of scoring chances. In the third period, I though we gave up a little bit too much, but they\u2019re desperate. They\u2019re playing for their lives at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avs are only 20-14-3 since that historic march to 69 points in 40 games. There have been lots of injuries. When two of their top-eight skaters (Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Brock Nelson, Valeri Nichushkin and Landeskog) are missing, the Avs are 9-10-3.<\/p>\n When one or none is missing, the Avs are 11-4-0 since the white-hot start. That version of the Avalanche is still in there. Colorado showed it Saturday afternoon in Dallas<\/a>, and again Tuesday night in St. Louis.<\/p>\n It was the third game in four nights against a red-hot team trying to make a miracle save of its season. The Avs came out and suffocated St. Louis for the first two periods.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to see it for 60 minutes for every game the rest of the way,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cBut we need to see it enough to secure our goals and making sure everyone is confident in the way we play and the trust you have in your teammates that you can do it the right way. That\u2019s another big step for us (Tuesday) night.\u201d<\/p>\n Bednar made it clear there is still one more to go. The Avs need some combination of two points gained or two lost by the Carolina Hurricanes to wrap up the Presidents\u2019 Trophy and home-ice advantage through the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n Beyond that, the Avs\u2019 main goals through the final five games will be to get everyone as healthy as possible, and hopefully see a couple of strong outings from Mackenzie Blackwood, who has scuffled recently. There wasn\u2019t a celebratory vibe in the cramped visitors locker room at Enterprise Center, but the Avs know one thing they\u2019ve earned \u2014 fewer nights in small, unfamiliar rooms like this one once the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no do or die for it, but if you have the opportunity, you\u2019re going to take it,\u201d goalie Scott Wedgewood said after another strong start<\/a>. \u201cHome ice is super important. It\u2019s an advantage. You spend more days at home in between rounds.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully that will pay dividends for us.\u201d<\/p>\n