The Avalanche went wire-to-wire as the best team in the NHL. Naturally, they’re considered heavy favorites against the Los Angeles Kings, the team with the lowest point total to qualify for the postseason. You can’t take any team for granted when the playoffs roll around, though.

Here are three key factors that could decide the series.

The Bottom Six

While the left wing on Colorado’s third line remains a mystery, it’s a safe bet that two-thirds of Colorado’s trio is going to be Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy. In a perfect world, those two would have spent the last month developing chemistry. In the real world, where injuries exist, they’ve only played 40 total minutes on a line with each other. The numbers look good, but they’re still a bit of an unknown together.

What they could be, combined with potentially Gabriel Landeskog on the other side, is terrifying for opposing teams. A trio with that combination of size and skill is scary enough to begin with, but it’s a little unfair when it’s your third line. Colorado’s fourth line of Parker Kelly, Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor was arguably its most consistent against Dallas last year. Matchup nightmares in the bottom six can make all the difference when the playoffs roll around.

“It’s going to take every bit of energy and effort for teams to try and keep the top-line talent in check. Well, those other guys can hurt you too,” the NHL Network’s Mike Rupp told The Denver Gazette. “Their bottom six is really good.”

Win the special teams battle

It’s a cliche because it matters. Special teams are the biggest reason why the Avalanche exited in the first round against Dallas last season. For as much publicity as the subpar power play got, the penalty kill wasn’t any better. That can’t happen again.

The Kings have not been good on the power play this season. Like the Avalanche, they’ve improved since the Olympic break, but they’re still in the bottom five over the course of the entire season. Colorado finished first in the NHL on the penalty kill and can’t let the Kings get any easy goals in this series. On the flip side, Colorado’s improved power play needs to take advantage of a bad Kings penalty kill. Since the Olympic break, the Kings have killed off just 67.9% of the power plays they faced, far and away the worst percentage in the league.

Win the special teams battle, win the series.

Do what you’ve been doing

On paper, the Avalanche are the significantly better team.

“From an outsider’s standpoint, this is the perfect matchup for round one for the Avalanche,” Rupp said.

The playoffs are an entirely different animal, though. Upsets happen all the time in the first round of the NHL playoffs. It will be imperative for the Avalanche to continue doing what they’ve been doing all year and, perhaps most importantly, not overlook this Kings team that played well down the stretch.

“Everyone’s got to find another level. Keep your emotions in check and play your quick game,” Rupp said. “They’re a team that’s been through it. They’ve got a lot of veterans, a lot of guys on the team that were there when they won. I think that they’ll be good. They’ve got the right guys in the room to make sure they’re not overlooking this Kings team.”