DENVER — The Detroit Red Wings noticed fans still remember the rivalry, and the competitiveness of the Colorado Avalanche stoked hopes it soon might be revived.

The Wings head into Wednesday's game at Minnesota, their last before the break, on a five-game losing skid after dropping a 6-3 Monday matinee at Pepsi Center. There were enough partisan fans to start a few "Go Wings" chants, but many more voiced their disapproval of the Wings, whose rivalry with the Avalanche two decades ago was one of the best in sports.

“This rivalry, with the fans, most definitely it’s still there,” Dylan Larkin said. “Next year or year after and in the years following, with the players they have and the players that we have, it’s going to be an exciting rivalry again.”

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The Wings don’t stack up against opponents most nights, their lineup weakened by injuries (top defenseman Danny DeKeyser is out for the season and top-line winger Anthony Mantha’s return is uncertain) and patched with minor-league call-ups. At 12-34-4, the Wings are on pace to finish with 46 points.

That’s where the Avalanche serve as an example. Three seasons ago, they finished 22-56-4 for 48 points — 21 points behind 29th-place Vancouver. They had the best odds entering the draft lottery but were pushed back to fourth, where they picked defenseman Cale Makar. He set up two goals Monday, giving him 37 career points, second among defensemen from the 2017 draft.

Another key move for the Avs came Nov. 5, 2017, when they traded Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators in a three-team trade package that yielded Samuel Girard, Vladislav Kamenev, and a conditional first-round pick in 2018, as well as second- and third-round picks in 2018.

Girard has emerged as one of the team’s top defensemen, a workhorse who averages 21-22 minutes a game. One of the draft picks was used to acquire Philipp Grubauer, who has become Colorado’s No. 1 goaltender.

After beating the Wings, the Avs were six points behind St. Louis for the top spot in the Western Conference.

“I remember three years ago coming in here and playing against these guys and they didn’t look like they wanted to play,” Larkin said. “For us, it’s important here near the end of the season, we have to form good habits and stay in it. There’s a lot of players in here that, we are all still trying to prove ourselves and we should be proving ourselves every day.

"I think you look at what they have done with their top line and Makar, he is a heck of a player, and they have a pretty solid goalie tandem. I find these guys right now a real team. They’re contenders, one of the most dynamic teams we have played against. It is exciting to look forward and hope that we can become what they have become.”

The Wings have 32 games left, and while the playoffs are long lost, it matters that competitiveness is not. Larkin came through with a goal and two assists, Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 17th goal of the season, and Givani Smith had his second in four games.

© The Associated Press Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer cools down during a timeout in the second period of the team's NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Larkin anchors the rebuild, and his resurgence after a mediocre first half matters more than the results of the games. He has 10 points in the past 10 games, and he has regained confidence after getting to a low point in December, when “I didn’t want the puck on my stick and that’s part of my game."

“In this league when you don’t have it, when you are afraid to have the puck on your stick, it’s not a fun league to play in with the guys with the way they can skate," he said. "I think it came back to wanting the puck on my stick and moving my feet.

“I’ve been playing with great linemates and all the opportunity I could ask for ... I want more for myself and everyone in this room. We deserve better, but we have to stay in it and work for each other.”

© David Zalubowski, AP Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, front, picks up a loose puck as Avalanche left wing Matt Calvert looks on in the second period on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Denver.

All of the losing has worn most visibly on Larkin, who takes it upon himself to talk to reporters after the majority of games.

“When you start to lose confidence or the losses wear on you, it starts to hurt your energy a little bit,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We have to be real careful of that, we have to find a way to have great energy in our last game before the break and then get ourselves rejuvenated coming back at it out of the break.

“Dylan competes hard all the time. I’ve asked a lot of him here. We’ve lost centermen in the last two games. He played 24 minutes the other night. I am asking probably too much of him in terms of minutes, so we have to do a better job managing that, but I think he is playing really, really hard.”

Smith created two scoring chances during a first-period power play, using his 6-foot-2, 210-pound body to create space in front of the net. It looks as if he will be part of the rebuild, too.

“I think in the big picture he is making a real case for himself,” Blashill said. “You look at guys and say, well, what’s their NHL skill set? Well, he's a big man who plays hard who has good enough hands, has enough skill. I think he has done a really good job of learning how to play within himself, utilize his skill set the best he can in the NHL.”

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings look at old rival Avalanche and see what's possible