DENVER -- The Sabres' bye week ends Friday as the players reconvene for practice at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (6 p.m. Eastern) in the University of Denver's Joy Burns Rink.

You would expect coach Dan Bylsma to have one of his longest practices of the season, perhaps even pushing the 90-minute range, to help his players try to work off some of the rust they may have accumulated since Sunday's loss to Chicago. Between the bye and their heavy schedule of games, the Sabres have had just one practice in the last 10 days.

They will then have a morning skate Saturday in Pepsi Center before meeting the Colorado Avalanche here Saturday night (10 p.m. Eastern). But don't for a second think a game against the woeful Avs is a gimme: NHL teams are just 4-12-4 in their first game coming off the bye this season.

And with only 22 games left, the Sabres need every point. They're 26-24-10 for 62 points in 60 games and enter Friday six points out of both the final wild-card slot (New York Islanders) and third place in the Atlantic Division (Toronto). They are even in games played with both of those teams. Here's how others in those races have fared while the Sabres have been idle: