NUMBERS GAME

4 times the Avalanche has been shut out this season. It also was held without a goal by Columbus at the Pepsi Center and by Nashville and St. Louis on the road.

SKRASTINS RETURNS

Karlis Skrastins returned to the Avalanche lineup after missing 13 games with a sprained knee. The Avalanche has seven healthy defensemen, so coach Joel Quenneville scratched Ossi Vaananen, who played in all but three of the team's previous 75 games.

Skrastins played 15:28 - 6 minutes below his season average - and had a game-high four blocked shots.

Rookie left wing Wojtek Wolski played after being a healthy scratch Sunday in Vancouver. Wolski, who has one goal and four assists in his past 16 games, skated on the top line with Joe Sakic and Andrew Brunette.

The Wolski-Sakic-Brunette unit combined for eight of the Avalanche's 34 shots, with five of the line's shots coming in the third period.

DRAFT LOTTERY

If the Avalanche misses the playoffs, it would participate in the NHL's weighted lottery to determine the first 14 selections in the opening round of the entry draft set for June 22 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The lottery will take place at 10 a.m. MDT April 2 in the league's New York office. No team can improve its draft position by more than four places.

Rounds two through seven of the draft will be conducted June 23 in Columbus.

HE SAID IT

"We were in tough a long time ago, too."

Andrew Brunette, forward, on the seven-point deficit the Avalanche faces for the final Western Conference playoff position.