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Predators Game Looms Large, Avs Can Catch Nashville For Final Playoff Spot

DENVER (CBS4) - If the Colorado Avalanche sneak into the playoffs, they can probably look to the thrilling comeback and overtime win against the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night as a turning point of their season.

With the 4-3 win over the Blues the Avs improved their record to 20-18-3 at the halfway point of the season and are only two points out of the final wild card spot. The final spot is currently occupied by the Nashville Predators (19-14-7), who come to Denver on Friday.

"It should be exciting to play to catch Nashville. Our players should be excited about that," head coach Patrick Roy said following Wednesday's win. "It will be a fun game for our fans, for everybody. Two points behind these guys? If you looked maybe 10 or 15 games ago, we were 10 points behind. It's pretty good what our guys have been doing lately."

Edmonton Oilers v Colorado Avalanche
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

"We're not going to fool ourselves and say it's not big," team captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "This is a playoff type of game. If we're going to be in the playoffs, these are the teams we have to beat."

One of the reasons for the Avs' recent success has been the play of center Matt Duchene, who will represent the team in this year's All-Star game. Duchene leads the team with 19 goals and is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the points lead with 34. Duchene caught fire in November, breaking the club record with 11 goals in the month. It's Duchene's second All-Star selection.

"It's a nice accolade or reward, I guess, but I think the biggest thing is continuing to focus on the task at hand here … and put it on the back burner until the time comes and go enjoy it and it should be a great time," Duchene said.

Friday's big game against the Predators will be played on Museum Night at the Pepsi Center where fans can check out some of the NHL's most coveted awards, including the Stanley Cup, which was won twice by the Avs.

Additional Information From The Colorado Avalanche

Museum Night, presented by Avaya, is on Jan. 8 as part of the Avalanche's 20th Anniversary Season.

Doors will be open for all ticket holders to see the hardware on Friday from 12-4 p.m. and then they will reopen for the game at 5:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Watch your Avs take on the Nashville Predators and snap pictures with the following items:

Conn Smythe Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
Calder Memorial Trophy
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
Presidents' Trophy
Jack Adams Award
Ted Lindsay Award
Art Ross Trophy
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy
William M. Jennings Trophy
Stanley Cup

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