The Colorado Avalanche play for next year, when they face off against the Phoenix Coyotes

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The Colorado Avalanche play for next year, when they face off against the Phoenix Coyotes

The Colorado Avalanche know that their season is over, but they are grooming young talent to play well in the future when they face off against the Phoenix Coyotes.

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One of the few positives to emerge from what otherwise has been a forgettable season for the Avalanche: the sudden development of Ryan O'Reilly as an offensive threat. The second-year center, who turned 20 in February, has been on a tear in the last three weeks, scoring six goals in 11 games. He had eight goals in 81 games as a rookie last season.

O'Reilly was a second-round draft pick (33rd overall) in the 2009 NHL entry draft and made the NHL roster as an 18-year-old along with fellow center Matt Duchene. Drafted as a solid two-way player, penalty killer and a guy who could be counted on to take faceoffs, O'Reilly finished with 26 points and a plus-4 plus/minus rating. His 53 blocked shots were the most among Colorado forwards.

O'Reilly has taken advantage of being given more offensive responsibility in the latter part of this season because of injuries to a number of forwards. Overall, he has 11 goals and 12 assists in 67 games.

The Coyotes have played the most games in the Western Conference (78), and they have only one game in the next seven days—Thursday at home against Colorado. So while they lead the logjam of teams still fighting for a playoff spot, they knew they would be in for an uncomfortable sit-and-watch session if they didn't win Tuesday and reach the 95-point plateau.

The Coyotes are 26-9 in their last 35 against the Northwest and they beat Colorado.

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