Kiefer Sherwood and Dakota Joshua had a goal and an assist apiece as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in Denver on Thursday night.

Jake DeBrusk and Nils Hoglander also scored and Kevin Lankinen turned away 31 shots for Vancouver (37-29-13, 87 points), which has won two in a row.

Devon Toews scored and Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves for Colorado (48-28-4, 100 points). With the loss, the Avalanche are locked into the third seed in the Central Division and likely will face the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs.

Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL’s leading point scorer, was scratched for the first time this season and will likely sit for the final two games to rest up for the playoffs. Coach Jared Bednar said the reigning Hart Trophy winner (MVP) is “dealing with something, too.”

Without MacKinnon, Martin Necas moved up to center the top line.

The Avalanche had a slim chance to overtake the Stars for second in the Central Division and home ice in the first round of the playoffs after Dallas lost at home to Winnipeg on Thursday night.

The Canucks, despite being eliminated from the postseason when the Minnesota Wild won Wednesday night, grabbed the lead in the second period on Thursday.

Sherwood had the puck in the left circle and centered it to DeBrusk as he skated down the slot. DeBrusk tipped it over Blackwood’s shoulder and in at 4:50.

Sherwood gave the Canucks a two-goal lead 3:01 later when he skated into the right circle, got a pass from Joshua and wristed the puck by Blackwood.

Colorado cut the deficit in half late in the second when Toews tipped Charlie Coyle’s shot from the point by Lankinen at 16:36.

Vancouver made it 3-1 early in the third period. Aatu Ray deflected Marcus Pettersson’s shot from the top of the zone, Blackwood made the save but Joshua skated in and knocked in the rebound at 6:14.

Blackwood came off for an extra skater late in the third and Hoglander scored into the empty net at 18:02.

–Field Level Media