(SportsNetwork.com) - Colorado may be ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference standings, but they are a club that the Avalanche may want to avoid in the playoffs. The Canucks, though, are no lock to reach the postseason and they will continue their push for a wild card spot on Thursday night versus the Avs. Vancouver is four points back of Phoenix for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference and has played one more game than the Coyotes, who visit the New Jersey Devils tonight. The Dallas Stars also are one point ahead of the Canucks in the standings and have played two fewer games than Vancouver. That gives the Canucks an uphill battle in reaching the postseason and the squad has responded with its longest winning streak since late December. That includes last nights 5-2 triumph over the Minnesota Wild. David Booth scored twice in the win and Eddie Lack made 29 saves as the Canucks have claimed three straight victories for the first time since Dec. 20-29. Another win tonight would give Vancouver its longest string of victories since a season-best seven-game run from Dec. 1-14. "Were breathing. Thats the most important thing and we found a way tonight," said Canucks head coach John Tortorella. Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Zack Kassian all added goals for a Vancouver squad that was without captain Henrik Sedin due to a left knee injury suffered in Sundays win against the Buffalo Sabres. He is day-to-day and did not travel with the club for its quick two-game road trip that ends tonight. It is unknown if Lack will get another start tonight or if backup Jacob Markstrom will get the call. Neither has ever faced the Avalanche and Markstrom has made just one appearance in relief since coming over in the trade that sent Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers. Whoever gets the call will try to extend the Canucks recent string of success over the Avalanche. Vancouver picked up a 3-1 victory over Colorado at home on Dec. 8 and has won 11 of 12 as well as 19 of the previous 22 encounters. The Canucks also have won 10 of their last 13 trips to Colorado, though they did have a four-game series road win streak snapped in the most recent meeting there on April 13 of last season. The Avs are rolling towards a playoff spot as they own a nine-point edge over the fourth-place Wild in the Central Division and are also a mere three points back of the Chicago Blackhawks for second. Colorado did bring a three-game winless stretch (0-2-1) into Tuesday nights meeting with the Nashville Predators and escaped with a 5-4 shootout victory on the road despite never leading in regulation. Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in regulation and had the deciding shootout tally, while Cody McLeod and Nick Holden both scored to erase third-period deficits. "What I like about our group is we were resilient even if we were not playing our best game," said Colorado head coach Patrick Roy. Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves as Colorado reached 45 wins in a season for the first time since 2001-02. The Avs won a franchise-best 52 victories the previous season en route to a Stanley Cup title. Varlamov will start tonight and is seeking his first career win versus the Canucks, having gone 0-7-1 with a 2.80 goals against average in previous meetings. Air Max Shoes Cheap . Messis 75th-minute goal answered some of the criticism the clubs all-time leading scorer had received for his lacklustre performances in the teams recent losses in the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey final. Cheap Air Max China . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. http://www.wholealeairmaxshoes.com/ . According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. Air Max Shoes Sale Online .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005. Cheap Air Max Shoes Store . According to Tony Barrett of The Times, the Liverpool captain is set to announce that he will leave the club at the end of the 2014-15 season.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With the famed No. 3 on his car and memories of the late Dale Earnhardt fresh in his mind, Austin Dillon took the fabled number out of hibernation and straight to the top at Daytona. Dillon reawakened the days of The Intimidator and proved he can handle the spotlight thrust on his ride in the 3, winning the pole Sunday for the season-opening Daytona 500. He took the top spot with a lap at 196.019 mph in NASCARs season opener in a car Richard Childress has refused to field at NASCARs top level since Earnhardts fatal accident on the last lap of the 2001 race. But with his 23-year-old grandson ready to move to the Sprint Cup Series, Childress allowed Dillon to use the number widely associated with the seven-time champion. Earnhardt won 67 races, six championships and the 1998 Daytona 500 driving the No. 3. Dillon was a kid when he posed for a picture with Earnhardt in Victory Lane following his breakthough 1998 win. Hell have many more memories from this milestone, like the congratulatory handshake he received from Richard Petty when qualifying ended. NASCARs family roots run deep, so Childress never had to leave the family tree to find the right driver for the number. Dillon has been using it in NASCAR national competition since 2009, when he made his Truck Series debut in the No. 3. He won the Truck championship in 2011 driving the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing, and the Nationwide title last season in the same number. So Childress knew -- he always knew and has insisted that Earnhardt gave his blessing long before his death -- that Dillon could use the number if he ever made it to Cup. Dillon doesnt take the responsibility lightly. "Everybody wants to see this number perform well, and thats what my goals are," Dillon said. "I love getting in that race car and driving it. I think once we get through some of these races here at the beginning of the year, everything will sink in and Ill get comfortable and be able to have some fun.&quoot; Its the fourth time the No.dddddddddddd 3 has won the pole for the Daytona 500. Buddy Baker did it in 1969, Ricky Rudd in 1983 and Earnhardt in 1996. Martin Truex Jr., driving a Chevrolet for Furniture Row Racing, qualified second with a lap at 195.852 mph. Truexs engine is built by Earnhardt-Childress Racing, giving the company a sweep of the Daytona 500 front row. "Obviously, without that thing under the hood, we wouldnt be where we are," said Truex, who won the Daytona 500 pole in 2009 with an ECR engine when he drove for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The rest of the field is set Thursday through a pair of qualifying races, but Childress and the ECR engines are strong: They had five cars in the top 12 on Sunday. Childress knew he had a shot at the pole, if not with Dillon then from another one of his four Richard Childress Racing entries. All were fast in January testing, and again in two Saturday practice sessions. But it was Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., the first driver to make his qualifying attempt, who set the pace early and held down the provisional pole for most of the session. RCR drivers Brian Scott and Paul Menard failed to bump Earnhardt, and it was surprisingly Ford driver Greg Biffle who finally did it as the 33rd driver to take his turn. Ryan Newman then took his shot for RCR and missed, and Dillon was the next driver out. He shot to the top of the board and his grandfather pumped his fist in celebration. He then nervously watched as the final 10 drivers made their runs, and gave another fist-pump in celebration. "We wanted to come down here and put on a good show with the 3, and to have another ECR engine with Furniture Row on the front row, we couldnt be more proud," Childress said. So could he finally relax? "The pressure is always on when youve got grandsons racing for you," said Childress, who thanked all the sponsors who "believed in this young kid, who took a chance on him." ' ' '