SAN JOSE, Calif. — The effort was excellent, but the execution wasn’t good enough.
The Avalanche played extremely hard Thursday night but blew a glorious chance to improve its Western Conference playoff odds at SAP Center, losing 4-2 to the San Jose Sharks.
Colorado, which remains a point ahead of St. Louis for the last wild-card spot, finished 0-2-1 on its three-game trip and slipped to 2-5-1 in its last eight games.
Still, the Avs (92 points) will clinch a playoff spot by defeating the Blues in regulation in Saturday night’s regular-season finale for both teams at the Pepsi Center.