"It was precisely the way the Avalanche didn't want to go into the NHL's all-star break — with a whimper. All that was required to go into it with a relative bang was a victory over a team that had lost 11 straight games on the road and without its best all-around player.

That the Avs lost a 3-2 to the reeling Minnesota Wild on home ice Tuesday night, in Game No. 51, means they go into the break like the kid whose report card shows a D in home economics and is just enough to keep him off the honor roll.

Instead of a three-point lead in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot, the Avs are now one point back of Minnesota — with the Wild having two games in hand — entering the break. It was just the kind of loss that could prove to be the difference between the Avs making the postseason or cleaning out their lockers after Game No. 82.

Still, Colorado is in a better position than many predicted at this point. It is a young team that plays very hard most of the time, one that should compete down to the wire for a playoff spot — not the lottery team many feared again."