In spite of their franchise-record road success, the Avalanche maintained throughout the final weeks of the regular season that playoff home ice was a worthwhile goal to chase. Nathan MacKinnon understood that the Avs probably wouldn’t catch Vegas in the Western Conference, but “home ice in our division at least is big for us,” he told The Post. The Avalanche achieved their goal Friday, with MacKinnon fittingly the one who pushed them over the top with a hat trick in a 4-3 win over the Predators in Nashville that clinched the Central Division title.