For the past two seasons, the Colorado Avalanche have won the Central Division.

With 119 points, they easily won in 2021–2022. It ultimately led to a strong playoff run and the team’s third Stanley Cup.

Winning the division in 2022–2023 depended on the season’s last game. With 109 points, they narrowly won the. championship in Nashville thanks to the heroics of Nathan MacKinnon.

Unfortunately, throughout the playoffs, they performed like a worn-out squad. They battled injuries and other setbacks until losing to the Seattle Kraken in Round 1 and were unable to retain their crown.

Even though this season has been unpredictable as well, the Avalanche could make a mistake and win the division once more.

They share first place with the Dallas Stars with 89 points as of this writing. Because they had more regulation wins—36—the Avs have the advantage in the tiebreaker. Dallas, who only has 29 players, may win ahead of Colorado on Thursday night when they play New Jersey later.

Nevertheless, the Avalanche’s recent hot streak—which included a thrilling victory in Vancouver on Wednesday night—makes all of this possible. Colorado rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. They could have easily fit it in after their performance in Calgary 24 hours earlier, but they chose not to.

Less than five seconds remained in the second period when Mikko Rantanen scored to give the Avs the lead. This created momentum going into the third period, when Ross Colton knotted the score at three points after Nathan MacKinnon made it 3-2.

Valeri Nichushkin scored another game-winning goal for Colorado in overtime, this one off the visor of his helmet. Though completing the comeback was a peculiar objective, they all have the same value.

The Avs have won seven of the last eight games and five in a row overall. They’re clicking at the perfect moment, particularly following a hectic trade deadline led by general manager Chris MacFarland and president Joe Sakic.

On April 13, the third-to-last game of the season, Colorado will play the sneaky-good Winnipeg Jets, who have 87 points. That might significantly affect the division title.

The Avalanche are putting it all together in yet another season filled with hiccups. And that might result in another shot at the championship and home-ice advantage for the majority of the playoffs.