(Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche were big players prior to Tuesday's trade deadline, and will continue their playoff push tonight with a big Northwest Division test against the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.

Just five points back of Calgary for first place in the division and two points shy of Vancouver and Nashville for the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference, Colorado added two players to the fold over the last two days.

It started on Monday when the Avalanche signed Peter Forsberg for the rest of the season. Then prior to yesterday's deadline, Colorado acquired defenseman Adam Foote from Columbus for a pair of conditional draft picks and blueliner Ruslan Salei from Florida in exchange for defender Karlis Skrastins and a third-round pick in the 2008 draft.

Foote actually played in Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime win against Calgary, while Salei was not in the lineup. It is also unknown when Forsberg will see game-time action with the club.

Last night, Paul Stastny's power-play goal 3:02 into overtime lifted the Avalanche. Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk also scored for Colorado, which improved to 2-1-1 on a five-game road trip that concludes tonight. Jose Theodore turned aside 27 shots in the win.

Also, captain Joe Sakic played in his second game since missing 38 contests due to hernia surgery.

Colorado is 14-15-4 on the road this season and begins a four-game homestand on Saturday against Los Angeles.

Vancouver will aim to keep the Avalanche at arms length tonight while trying to improve its own playoff position. Tied with the Preds for the seventh in the West, the Canucks are just a point shy of sixth-place Minnesota in the conference standings.

The Canucks have won a season-high four straight games for the first time since March 15-21 of last season. That four game stretch came shortly after five consecutive wins from March 1-9.

On Saturday, Ryan Kesler scored a pair of third-period goals to guide Vancouver. Sami Salo and Alexander Edler also tallied for Vancouver, while Roberto Luongo stopped 28-of-29 shots for the Canucks.

Vancouver, just three points shy of first-place Calgary in the Northwest Division, began a three-game homestand on Saturday that will wrap with a visit from Columbus on Friday. The Canucks are 17-11-3 as the host team this year.

The Canucks made one deal before yesterday's deadline, swapping forward Matt Cooke with the Washington Capitals for Matt Pettinger.

Vancouver and Colorado have split four meetings so far this year, though the Canucks have won five of their last nine against the Avalanche. Colorado has won three of its last four in Vancouver.