Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start for the Avalanche, who trail the Dallas Stars by one point for the second wild card and the Minnesota Wild by two points for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Colorado is 5-1-1 in its past seven games after an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3). Forward Tanner Pearson will make his Canucks debut after he was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Erik Gudbranson on Monday. Vancouver is 3-6-2 in its past 11 games and five points behind Dallas.
Players to watch
Canucks center Elias Pettersson has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games since returning from a knee injury. Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak after he had a goal and an assist in his previous nine games.
They said it
"I always enjoyed going to Vancouver on the road. It's a great city. I'm looking forward to hopefully being here for a while. It's definitely something new and I'm looking forward to it." -- Canucks forward Tanner Pearson "We have to make sure we're taking care of home ice. We're right in the thick of it. We take care of our business and we'll be where we want to be." -- Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson
Gaudette is not on the road trip … Edler skated Wednesday but will miss his 11th game … Wilson will return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.
Stat pack
Horvat has scored three goals in his past three games. … Soderberg has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past four games.
