The regular season may be over, but the real season is about to begin.
The Colorado Avalanche begin their pursuit of the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup championship today, as they face the Los Angeles Kings in first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Colorado Avalanche (55-16-11)
The Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (35-27-20)
Time: 1:00 P.M. MDT/3:00 P.M. EDT
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche wrapped up the most successful regular season in franchise history with a 2-0 win over the floundering Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at Ball Arena. Defenseman Nick Blankenburg scored in the first period (which was overturned on a successful offside challenge by Seattle head coach Lane Lambert), but broke through (again) late in the second period to give the Avs the lead. Parker Kelly would cap off the scoring with his twenty-first goal of the season to secure the victory. The win saw them finish with a 121 point campaign, a new franchise record. Scott Wedgewood earned his fourth shutout of the season (and twelfth of his career), stopping all twenty-two shots he faced.
The Avs, who enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the undisputed leader across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings with their fourth Presidents Trophy under their belts, face a Los Angeles Kings team that clinched the second wild card position in the Western Conference late in the regular season. During regular season play, the Avs swept the season series, outscoring the Kings 13-5. Both teams met twice previously in postseason play, with both series going a full seven games. The Avs defeated the Kings in Game Seven to advance to the Western Conference Final in 2001, and earned another Game Seven victory in the first round back in 2002. Despite being heavily favored in this year’s matchup against the Kings, the Avs would do well not to take them lightly: the Avs lost their first round series to Seattle (and former goaltender Philipp Grubauer) back in 2023, which ended their Stanley Cup defense. While it’s a coincidence that another former Avs goalie will be on the opposing side in Darcy Kuemper, the notion of having another playoff run come to an early end is an outcome that no one wants to see, especially for this loaded roster.
Head Coach Jared Bednar yesterday addressed prior playoff disappointments and expectations for his roster. “There has to be a mentality there that we’re willing to go and earn what we want, right? We’re not deserved of anything yet. It’s all going to be about the way we play, and being willing to earn that, and if we think a team is going to hand us something, then that’s the wrong mentality, so we talked about that type of mindset. I think all of our guys understand that we’ve been through some heartache here in the first few rounds of playoffs, and I think it’s still fresh in our minds about what our focus is. It’s not on anything but L.A., Game One, and then we’ll shift to Game Two. Like, we have to have a narrow focus going into this thing […] We’re not looking past L.A.; this is a very good hockey team that’s played very well down the stretch, and we have to go and beat them, and that’s our focus, and it starts tomorrow afternoon with the puck drop.”
MacKinnon, who also spoke with the media after practice yesterday, echoed similar sentiments. “All our focus is on Game One in the first round. I mean, we need to play desperate, desperate hockey, you know? All we’re focused on is the Kings, and after that, if we’re lucky to make it that far, we’ll focus on the next series, but, you know, all our attention and focus is on L.A.”
Bednar also indicated yesterday that he won’t comment on any lineup changes, or who his starting goalies will be, throughout the playoffs. During the practice session, Parker Kelly spent time playing wing on the second line with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin, and Gabe Landeskog, who made his memorable return to the Avs lineup last postseason, was on the wing with Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy. While these lineup tweaks may not be what takes the ice this afternoon, it certainly would provide a different look to the top and bottom six units. Placing Kelly in the top six would be quite a show of trust from Bednar in the newly-minted twenty-plus goal-scorer to see what he can do with more talented linemates, while putting Landeskog with Kadri and Roy would turn that third line forecheck into a nightmare for the Kings.
As far as the goaltending goes, should Bednar with his pre-existing rotation, the nod should go to Blackwood for Game One, as he could always turn to Wedgewood in the event that Blackwood struggles in the series opener. However, it’s difficult to look past the appeal of starting Wedgewood, who just completed his first thirty win campaign—a career best—this season.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Parker Kelly – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Gabe Landeskog – Nazem Kadri – Nicolas Roy
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
Defense:
Cale Makar – Devon Toews
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinksi
Between the Pipes:
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Los Angeles Kings
After three consecutive seasons of first round postseason exits at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles gets a break from being terrorized by the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl…only to find the likes of MacKinnon and Martin Nečas, both of whom scored a combined 227 points during the regular season, perennial Norris Trophy favorite Cale Makar, and the William Jennings trophy-winning duo in Blackwood and Wedgewood waiting for them.
Some break.
Although they had been in the mix for a more promising seeding in Pacific Division standings, General Manager Ken Holland made several moves to try to bolster his team’s position. Philip Danault, Warren Foegele, and Corey Perry were shipped out, while Artemi Panarin and Scott Laughton were added. While Los Angeles managed to clinch their playoff berth on April 14 in a 5-3 victory over Seattle, they wouldn’t learn of their actual playoff position until the final night of the regular season three nights later. The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up the third seed in the Pacific Division in their 5-4 defeat of the Nashville Predators, which locked the Kings into the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
According to Kings insiders Jared Shafran and Zach Dooley, due to the multiple playoff scenarios that could have unfolded for Los Angeles, they opted returned home after wrapping up their regular season finale in Calgary. Dooley said that the Kings spent time in L.A. on Friday to give the roster some rest in familiar surroundings before practicing on Saturday, then flying out to Denver afterward. Shafran said that the Kings wouldn’t hold a morning skate prior to Game One due to its early start time.
Going into the postseason as the second wild card against the League’s top seed is daunting enough, but to go into Denver with so little practice time prior to the start of the series against Colorado, who made Ball Arena a house of horrors for opposing teams throughout the regular season, is certainly an unenviable choice. Dooley also noted that injured forwards Andrei Kuzmenko, Jeff Malott, and Alex Turcotte, who have missed stretches of time due to injury, participated in yesterday’s practice. All three are now options to return to the lineup for Game One, but no firm decisions had been made regarding their status.
Kevin Fiala won’t be an option for interim head coach (and one-time Colorado defenseman) D.J. Smith, who missed the rest of the season after sustaining a leg injury during the Olympic break. Having Kuzmenko, Malott, and Turcotte as possible additions for his lineup would give him more options to go against Colorado’s deep forward ranks. Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, and Alex Laferriere, all of whom led Los Angeles in goals and points, respectively, will have their work cut out for them as they go against a formidable Colorado defense. However, Smith will have one of the League’s best wingers at his disposal in Panerin. Over the course of twenty-six games played with Los Angeles, Panarin averaged over a point per game during his short tenure with the Kings (9G/18A/27PTS). He and Kempe, along with captain Anže Kopitar, will likely be Colorado’s top defensive assignment of Makar and Devon Toews, which could afford Smith the opportunity to deploy Byfield and Laferriere against more favorable matchups.
In goal, Anton Forsberg, who won six of his past seven starts, could get the nod again as things get underway in Denver. However, in eight career games against Colorado, Forsberg has recorded only one win (1-7-0), and has never faced Colorado in postseason action. Kuemper, who backstopped Colorado to the Stanley Cup in 2022, would seem to be a more logical option, given his familarity with their playing style. He also has a playoff series win against Colorado, which was earned as a member of the Minnesota Wild during the 2013-2014 postseason, marking his first ever playoff series victory.
This series against Colorado will mark Smith’s first ever appearance as a head coach in the playoffs, who was tagged as interim head coach after Jim Hiller was dismissed in March. During his time as the bench boss of the Ottawa Senators, none of his teams qualified for the playoffs. Despite this lack of playoff credentials as a head coach, Smith did make playoff appearances as an assistant as part of Mike Babcok’s coaching staff with the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, three consecutive first round exits concluded those playoff appearances during his time in Toronto.
Kopitar, who annouced that this season would be his final NHL season, will make his last appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a Kings sweater. If he has his say, he’ll have more than four more games of postseason play to put a feather in his Hall of Fame crown…unless Colorado has a different send-off in mind.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artemi Panarin – Anže Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Quinton Byfield – Alex Laferriere
Joel Armia – Scott Laughton – Jared Wright
Mathieu Joseph – Samuel Helenius – Jeff Malott
Defense:
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin – Cody Ceci
Between the Pipes:
Anton Forsberg
Darcy Kuemper
