DENVER – If it’s postseason simulation they want, there should be chances ahead. Twelve of the next 17 Colorado Avalanche games are away from the friendly confines of Ball Arena and roughly half are against teams in or just outside a playoff spot.

“Early on in the season, (there) could be some lopsided victories and whatnot. We know we have to be comfortable in those one-goal games,” Gabriel Landeskog said after a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, who sat third in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay is seeking a third straight Stanley Cup title.

The previous month for Colorado (33-8-4) featured six games against the Western Conference’s bottom three teams as of Friday afternoon – Arizona, Chicago and Seattle – and one each against the last two in the Eastern Conference, Buffalo and Montreal.

Some of the most tense, playoff-style games – 3-2 against Florida, overtime against Toronto and Boston – have predictably come against teams in postseason contention. Arizona, however, ended Colorado’s 18-game home win streak just before the All-Star break.

“We were on a pretty good run here and a pretty good streak, but our schedule hasn’t been very tough. I think our schedule gets a lot tougher here as we go on,” defenseman Erik Johnson said Thursday morning. “We’re playing a lot more playoff teams, a lot more teams that have won in the past.

“It’s a good test for us because we haven’t played a ton of top teams.”

Johnson, the team’s longest-tenured player, recalled that just four or five years ago, the struggling Avalanche were the ones gearing up to face the perennial contenders.

“Right now we’re getting every team’s best game, no matter who we’re playing,” he said.

Signs point to the Avalanche having the services of center Nathan MacKinnon on Sunday at the Dallas Stars. MacKinnon broke his nose against the Bruins on Jan. 26 and missed the All-Star game. He skated in a blue jersey during Thursday’s morning skate instead of a non-contact red.

Dylan Sikura, who has filled in at forward in the four games MacKinnon has been sidelined, was reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL) on Friday.

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