DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche have the series on their side, but not history.

With a chance to advance halfway to the Stanley Cup with a win in Game 5 of their second-round matchup against the Minnesota Wild, the Avalanche have not closed out a playoff series at home since 2008.

They are 0-4 in closeout games in Denver since then.

During the Avalanche’s last Stanley Cup victory four years ago, they won all four rounds on the road and were 0-2 in closeout games at home, losing Game 5s in the second round against St. Louis and the final against Tampa.

Dominant for most of their 5-2 win Monday in St. Paul, Minn., the Avalanche should eliminate the Wild on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET on Sportsnet, Sportsnet ).

Injured Minnesota players Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin are not coming to the rescue, goaltending and special teams have been fine — not the fixable issues that gave the Wild a boost after falling behind 0-2 in the series — and the Avalanche simply look like the better (and deeper) team when on their game.

But they were better than the Blues and Lightning, too, but lost those closeout games at home four years ago.

“The challenge is keeping your focus on the things you need to keep them on, right?” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after Wednesday’s........

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