DENVER >> This wasn’t going to be easy, and for the Red Wings it wasn’t.

They were finishing a long road trip while Colorado was home, rested. And, the Avalanche have the look of a Stanley Cup team right now, winning 11 of their last 13 games.

So, Tuesday’ 5-2 loss was a predictable result. The Red Wings didn’t look entirely bad. They played well enough, at times.

But that doesn’t mean much with only three weeks and 11 games left in the regular season. The Wings are hanging around the playoff chase, but aren’t currently winning enough games (3-10-0 in their last 13 games).“It’s about getting two points,” forward J.T. Compher said after Tuesday’s loss. “Doing good things is not enough at this point. We need to find ways to win games. That’s (Colorado) a good, deep hockey team over there. They capitalized on their chances.”

Denver has become a house of horrors over the years. The Avalanche have won the last seven games in Denver over the Wings, and are 13-0-1 overall against the Wings.

With Ottawa (79 points), Montreal (75 points) and the New York Rangers (74 points) all losing Tuesday, it would have been a valuable opportunity for the Wings (72 points) to inch closer in the standings (the N.Y. Islanders, with 74 points, and Columbus, 73, were idle).

But when the Avalanche needed a key play, they got it. The Wings weren’t able to do the same.

Time is running out on the schedule, but the Wings still have a strong belief system they can end an eight-year playoff drought. Even though they possess the NHL’s hardest schedule the rest of the way, facing playoff teams every game except for Saturday’s home game against Boston.

“The belief is there,” defenseman Mortiz Seider said. “We know we can be a good team. There are stretches where we’ve definitely showed that. We just have to put it together. We can’t let the other games slip now. Every game is almost a do-or-die.

“Now, it’s crunch time. Hopefully, we’re ready for it.”

Nobody has seen any shortage of resolve, effort or want. Especially after being reminded by coach Todd McLellan after Saturday’s loss in Vegas, when some Wings didn’t make the hard plays needed to win. The Wings showed no lack of dedication the last couple games.

“We’re fighting,” Compher said. “We’re going to fight until there’s nothing left to fight for, and that’s every guy in this room. That’s the mentality that I see and hear between periods, hear before and after games. This group wants it really, really bad.”

Injuries are beginning to creep up. Forward Elmer Soderblom aggravated an undisclosed injury and is out for Thursday’s game against Ottawa, as is goaltender Petr Mrazek (lower-body) and possibly goalie Cam Talbot (lower-body).

The schedule has been rugged and relentless. But Seider doesn’t want to hear excuses.

“That’s the most important thing we could ask from everyone right now,” Seider said. “We just can’t let ourselves down. We can’t look for any excuses. Nobody else is going to come in and help us. This is it. This is the locker room. We have to just pull on the strings together here, have make it work, and have to find points no matter how and what.”

When you look at it big picture, the Wings have a tough task ahead of them. McLellan prefers to keep it small and concentrate on the next game, and that’s his message to his players.

“Focus on what’s in front of us,” McLellan said, “There were other teams in our ballpark (Tuesday) that lost. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t gain on them. But the gulf, or the gap, between being in and out (of the playoffs) isn’t huge right now. We just took a big run through some of the top teams in the league. It was a tough run. But we’ve got some games ahead of us that we need to find some points.”