Avalanche morning skate notebook, glass half-full edition

#DaterJinx be damned, there is still plenty of hope for this Colorado Avalanche hockey club.

The Avs go into tonight’s game with the Vegas Golden Knights three points out of the second and final Western Conference playoff spot, currently held by the Minnesota Wild. They are also even in points with the Arizona Coyotes (57) and two points back of Vancouver.

But here’s the thing: the Avs have a game in hand over the Wild (they’ve played 59, Avs have played 58). They also have two games in hand over the Canucks. Arizona has played the same number of games as the Avs.

So, while the Avs don’t truly control their own destiny, it isn’t as hopeless as it might seem, for a playoff spot anyway.

Obviously, a win over the Golden Knights would be a good start back toward real playoff contention, and Semyon Varlamov will be tasked with getting it, as he’ll start again in goal.

Here’s the other thing: the Avs were a few points out of a playoff spot this same time last year, and look what happened. So, chins up everyone. The past is the past. Today is a new day.

“I don’t see why we can’t do it again this year,” defenseman Erik Johnson told BSN Denver. “Just because we’re in a little bit of a rut right now, we’re not givin’ up. We’re not givin’ up anything at all. We were right in this position last year and clawed our way back and made the playoffs on the last game of the season. It’s unfortunate, because we gave ourselves such a nice headstart this year. We can’t go .500 the rest of the way and expect to make it, though. We’ve gotta start rollin’ and picking up a few wins in a row now.”

The Avs do have more home games than road the rest of the way (12 home, 10 road). Question is, is that a good thing? The Avs have lost six in a row at home, with just about every one of them following the same script: fall behind early, make a run toward the end and fall short. Meanwhile, the Avs have gotten five of a possible eight points in the last four road games.

The Avs are 0-23 on the power play in their last eight games, and Jared Bednar will make some changes to the PP tonight, including moving Nathan MacKinnon to the second unit and moving J.T. Compher onto the top unit.

MacKinnon has gone eight straight games without a power-play goal.

Andrew Agozzino, called up yesterday while Dominic Toninato and Sheldon Dries were sent back down to the Eagles, will center the fourth line tonight.