Colorado Avalanche Game Day: Coming Home

John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports The Colorado Avalanche didn’t clinch their post-season berth until Game 81 of the regular season, coming down to the wire in a white-hot race with the Arizona Coyotes for the final Wild Card spot in the West.

It seemed as if that kind of snuck entrance into the postseason was a recipe for an early exit, especially against a team that seemed to dominate in the conference all year long — the Calgary Flames.

While goaltender Mike Smith did his best, though, the Avalanche managed to stagnate Calgary’s offense enough to stymie their opponents and take home a nice, early first round win. And now, they’re headed back to The Can to look at pulling ahead in yet another…