It was not too long ago the Colorado Avalanche were the main part of the conversation when discussion turned to the powers of the Western Conference.

That’s not the case anymore. Colorado is suffering through a miserable season, and will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third time in five seasons.

The Avs have endured a March that’s been indicative of their rough showing in 2010-11. Colorado is just 1-8-1 in the month, and for the season have only 62 points, six points ahead of Edmonton for last place in the Western Conference.

The Avs won their first game of the month on Saturday, and naturally it was against the equally struggling Oilers. Colorado needed a shootout to put away Edmonton 3-2. The victory ended a 10-game losing streak that dated back to a 4-3 victory at St. Louis on Feb. 22.

Colorado looks to finish the season on an upswing starting Tuesday night at home against Columbus.

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Despite a recent skid in which they’ve only won three times in their past 10 games, the Colorado Avalanche remain squarely in the hunt for a playoff berth in the wild Western Conference.

The Avalanche sit tied with Nashville and Anaheim for fourth place with 50 points. Phoenix and defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago are knotted at 49 points in seventh place.

With one point separating the final five playoff spots in the conference, it’s no wonder every game matters. The Avalanche have stumbled recently, but look to get back on track with a two-game Midwest road swing.

The Avalanche play at Chicago on Wednesday, followed by a trip to Minnesota on Friday. Sunday, the Avalanche play host to Vancouver.

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Just making it into the playoffs is one thing to build on for the next season. But when you give the No. 1 seed in your conference a push in that opening round, that provides even more momentum going forward.

That’s where the Colorado Avalanche are as the 2010-11 season draws closer. The Avs made the Western Conference playoffs as the eighth and final seed a season ago, then won two of the first three games against top seed San Jose before losing three in a row.

This season, the Avs aim to finish higher in the West. Second-year coach Joe Sacco has key returners back in goaltender Craig Anderson, leading scorer Paul Stastny and captain Adam Foote.

Colorado begins the new season against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 7. After that, the schedule gets tough in a hurry.

The Avs play seven of their next nine away from home.

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Colorado actually held a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but just minutes later San Jose scored two goals in a span of 1:29 to recapture the lead, one it would never relinquish. The Sharks scored four unanswered goals in the final stanza to put away the pesky Avs.

Marek Svatos and Brandon Yip registered goals in defeat for Colorado.

Joe Pavelski, the hero in Game 4’s overtime win for the Sharks, netted two goals in victory.