The legacy of the 2017-18 Avs all comes down to one game

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It is headed for this, it was always headed for this. When the Avalanche hosts the St. Louis Blues Saturday, though, instead of Rocky-style themed showdown music, they should just play the “beep, beep, beep” sound of a car backing up.

Somebody will make the playoffs, between the Avalanche and Blues. That much we know. At this point, it can rightly be said that it already seems like it’ll be by default.

The Avs stumble into Saturday’s showdown with the Blues 2-5-1 in their last eight games, after a try-hard-but-fruitless 4-2 loss to a San Jose Sharks team with not much to play for, without a couple of top forwards. The Blues bumble into Chicago on Friday night 0-3-1 in their last four, the last three of which came on home ice.

There are a bunch of technical scenarios in which tiebreakers can occur that might make Saturday’s game more meaningful to be decided in regulation or not, and I’m not going to spend the next 300 words trying to list them all here. Here’s the bottom, bottom line: the Avs go to the playoffs Saturday if they can beat the Blues in regulation, no matter what the Blues do or don’t do in Chicago. And that will also apply to the Blues too. Whatever team wins that game in regulation Saturday, if they can manage it, is in and the loser is out.

That’s the way it should be and, hopefully, that’s how the game will be decided.

Does this Avalanche team really believe they can win it, though? Do they really, really want it bad enough?

Right now, I have no idea. Things have been so up-and-down crazy these last few days with the whole playoff scenario that, really, nothing would surprise me either way. But I’m worried for the Avs’ sake, and here’s why:

• The top line is just squeezing its sticks into sawdust right now. No goals at even strength for Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen Thursday night. No goals at all for either MacK or Landy in the last nine games. Rantanen did get a power-play goal against the Sharks, but he’s been in a slump overall lately too. These guys have one more chance Saturday to avoid having these last three weeks or so be labeled a personal choke job of sorts. One more chance.
• The goaltending situation remains a battered, dire situation. Jonathan Bernier hasn’t looked like his former self for a while now, and looks exhausted. Two concussions, a hand injury and a sickness Thursday certainly haven’t helped the situation. Semyon Varlamov is done for the year.
• Jared Bednar has done a fine job this season, no matter what. I think he’s a good coach. But does it seem that he’s a bit like his players right now, with a bit of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look to him? I don’t know, but he hasn’t been able to coax a real clutch, gutsy effort out of his team for a while now. He shows little outward emotion. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing necessarily, but sometimes I think maybe his players look a little too casual when things really matter. The Avs tried to talk themselves into believing they played a pretty good game Thursday night, but I didn’t really think so. They were behind from start to finish and outshot 36-25.
• I think Landeskog needs to dig deep into whatever bag of psychological tricks he can muster to inspire his teammates for Saturday’s game. I know Landy is a responsible, accountable guy and that’s to be admired. I also think he sounds a little too bland before and after games lately. Yell and scream and kick a trash can before Saturday’s game maybe. Get in teammates’ faces a little. The old Avs’ glory teams had several eff-you moments between players in the room, but it was their way of keeping themselves accountable to each other. I’d like to see Landy do more than mouth platitudes right now. It’s time to lead the way somehow, some way.
• This team has so many younger players, that I worry they don’t want this playoff spot bad enough. I worry that too many of them think they’ll still be around for years and that other reinforcements will make them a real playoff team, as if on a scheduled timetable. But that’s dangerous thinking in the NHL. I’m not seeing enough desperation of late. They’ve had some tough injuries, yeah, and a tough schedule, yeah. Too bad, this is hockey. That applies to most every team right now. No excuses. They’ve had plenty of chances lately to have made Saturday’s game academic. But it hasn’t seemed like they wanted it enough. I think back to that game with Philly at home, and that’s what comes to mind. Too many slow starts of late, with a too-little-too-late finish.
• Saturday is just so big for so many of these guys, so big for the franchise I think. If they lose at home, on the final day of the season, to a team they should have probably put away by now, they’ll still be known as losers. A team that improved a lot, yeah, a team that should have a pretty bright future, yeah. But, in the end, in the final analysis of 2017-18, losers. And, really, it’ll be just the opposite. They will be winners, no matter what happens in the playoffs, if they can just take care of business Saturday.

It’s all right there for the Avs. Just go out and score more goals than before 60 minutes is up than the St. Louis Blues, a team with a rich history of blowing it this time of year, and you’re in. Simple.

One of my all-time favorite movies is “Glengarry, Glen Ross”, a movie about the brass-knuckle world of real estate sales. One of the many memorable lines, by Alec Baldwin’s character, is “Always Be Closing.” The movie’s main message: Either close the deal, or go home and cry to your wife and kids.

It’s time for the Avalanche to close this thing out, once and for all. Or else, go home and cry the rest of the summer.