Good news, Kings fans: No longer must you dread yet another first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Four straight first-round meetings against McDavid & Co., resulting in four straight early exits, had L.A. stuck in an all-too-familiar nightmare.<\/p>\n
Now, for the bad news: The Kings get Colorado, instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the matchup nobody wanted\u00a0\u2014 and for good reason.\u00a0The 2025-26 Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners, fresh off setting a new franchise points record with 121, have looked unstoppable all season long, and they\u2019ve got the jaw-dropping numbers to back it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Avalanche finished the regular season 31 points ahead of the Kings in the second wild-card spot. They boast an otherworldly plus-99 goal differential, suffered just 16 regulation losses,\u00a0boast three 30-plus goal-scorers,\u00a0and\u00a0are led by\u00a0two\u00a0players with 100-plus points (led, of course, by Nathan MacKinnon\u2019s 127).<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s something to be said for momentum, and the Kings have just that thanks to their sprint into the playoffs that saw an underachieving squad for much of the year finally click down the stretch.\u00a0It started with the acquisition of Artemi Panarin.\u00a0What followed was a series of deadline moves that took Kings fans on a week-long roller-coaster ride following the Olympic break. GM Ken Holland fired Jim Hiller and replaced him with D.J. Smith as interim, traded\u00a0away Corey Perry, then brought in Scott Laughton in a bargain deadline deal,\u00a0handed the crease to backup Anton Forsberg,\u00a0and buckled up for a high-speed chase for a playoff spot to make sure Anze Kopitar\u2019s last season wouldn\u2019t end with the regular season.<\/p>\n
Pillow fight or not, it was still an impressive feat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What comes next is a mountain of a challenge, which will require the Kings\u2019 best defensive play and the hot hand of the man in net if they\u2019re to take down the mighty Avalanche.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been more than two decades since these squads matched up in the playoffs. They met in back-to-back post-seasons in 2001 and 2002, with both series won by Colorado in seven games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know about the series ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Avalanche: 3-0-0
Kings: 0-3-0<\/p>\n
Avalanche X-Factor: Nazem Kadri<\/p>\n
The 2022 Stanley Cup champ is back, thanks to a deadline trade that felt like a win for everybody. Kadri\u2019s first stint with the Avalanche saw him reach hero status when, after tallying a career-high 87 points in 71 games,\u00a0he came up clutch in the playoffs despite suffering a broken thumb in the Cup Final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a strange and unfortunate turn of events, Kadri was sidelined for the final few games of Colorado\u2019s season\u00a0this spring\u00a0with a finger injury \u2014 his first\u00a0time missing games\u00a0since that thumb issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s search for depth down the middle following Kadri\u2019s departure in free agency was well-documented. The team he re-joined in March looks a little different than the one he left because of it. The Avalanche brought in Brock Nelson as a second-line centre last year, and found a winger for MacKinnon in Martin Necas after trading away Mikko Rantanen. There\u2019s no doubting the top-six talent, led by MacKinnon and his league-best 53-goal output. And now the bottom six looks poised to do damage, too, thanks to Kadri slotting in as third-line centre.\u00a0The rich got richer.\u00a0Having a healthy Kadri back in the lineup opens up Jared Bednar\u2019s lineup options to an enviable degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kings X-Factor:\u00a0Artemi Panarin<\/p>\n
L.A.\u2019s\u00a0acquisition of\u00a0Artemi Panarin from the Rangers in February and\u00a0subsequent\u00a0two-year\u00a0extension made clear the Kings\u2019 intentions\u00a0not to fade into the background of the league but to contend,\u00a0now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It worked. While the addition of Panarin didn\u2019t magically and singlehandedly turn things around, it served up a big boost on the scoresheet \u2014 he\u2019s tallied 27 points in 26 games with the Kings.\u00a0Can he reach another gear in the playoffs?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Considering the offensive firepower on the other side of this matchup,\u00a0and the fact that the team is still without Kevin Fiala following his serious leg injury suffered during the Olympics,\u00a0he\u2019s going to have to. A well-timed scoring surge for winger Quinton Byfield, who reached a career-high in goals (24),\u00a0bodes well for a strong playoff run to come, but there\u2019s no doubt Panarin is the leader of this offensive force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ADVANCED STATS
(5-on-5 totals from Natural Stat Trick)<\/p>\n
1. Get ready for the MacKinnon-Makar show<\/p>\n
Unless he\u2019s suiting up against your squad, watching Nathan MacKinnon in the playoffs is truly a beautiful thing. He consistently produces at more than a point-per-game pace in the post-season and can single-handedly take over a game. The thing about this roster, though, is that he doesn\u2019t need to\u00a0do it alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It truly is an embarrassment of riches to have both MacKinnon and Cale Makar on the same roster. Makar, who was awarded\u00a0the Conn Smythe Trophy when Colorado won the Cup in 2022, is made for playoff hockey. Should he get on a hot streak like he did during that 29-point run in \u201922, watch out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2. Presidents’ Trophy: boost, or burden?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing about the Presidents\u2019 Trophy: It rarely leads a team to the Stanley Cup. \u201cCurse\u201d is surely too strong a word, but looking down the list of franchises to earn the honour of being the winningest team in the regular season shows a trend\u00a0of playoff losses\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0hard to deny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last team to hoist the Cup after winning the Presidents\u2019 Trophy was the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. The last team to do so in a full, 82-game season was the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings. The more recent handful of regular-season winners all ended in playoff disappointment \u2014 some more than others. Last year\u2019s Winnipeg Jets were ousted in Round 2. Before that, the Rangers\u00a0fell\u00a0just shy of the Cup Final. The 2022-23 Boston Bruins\u00a0suffered\u00a0the biggest upset, having set a league record for\u00a0the\u00a0best season\u00a0ever, only to be taken down by the upstart Florida Panthers. The last time Colorado won the award was in 2020-21. They were eliminated by Vegas in Round 2, but went on to win the Stanley Cup the following year. Will this season change the narrative?<\/p>\n
3. Which goalie takes the lead?<\/p>\n
In Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, the Avalanche boasted the best goalie tandem in the league this year. Wedgewood, the presumed backup to start the season, has the edge in starts (43) and stats (31 wins, a .921 SV%, 2.02 GAA) over Blackwood (36 starts, 23 wins, .904 SV% and 2.51 GAA) and was the busier netminder down the stretch,\u00a0which points to him likely getting\u00a0the nod for Game 1. How head coach Jared Bednar navigates the\u00a0duo from there will be interesting to watch.\u00a0Blackwood started all seven of Colorado\u2019s first-round games last year against Dallas, while Wedgewood has never started in the post-season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Who gets the crease? (And how long is his leash?)<\/p>\n
Defence will be the top priority in an effort to shut down \u2014 or, at least\u00a0slow\u00a0down \u2014 Colorado\u2019s lethal attack. And if ever there was a time to\u00a0harness\u00a0the playoff power of a hot goalie, now would be it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right now, it\u2019s backup\u00a0Anton Forsberg who\u00a0appears\u00a0likely to start Game 1. He backstopped the team down the stretch and really hit his stride, the team playing with confidence in front of him. He\u2019s never started a playoff game, but that seems like it\u2019s about to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darcy Kuemper struggled mightily in his handful of starts as Forsberg took over, but his playoff experience speaks for itself \u2014 he backstopped the Avalanche to the Cup in 2022. Should an opportunity arise to stump his former squad, the script would write itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the end of an era in L.A., as captain Anze Kopitar is\u00a0set\u00a0to hang up his skates at the end of the Kings\u2019 season. The team fought to extend his tenure at least a few extra games, and all eyes will be on the veteran centreman to see if he can add to what\u2019s been a prolific, Hall of Fame-worthy career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And what a career it\u2019s been. Two Stanley Cups, a pair of Selke Trophies, three Lady Byngs, and a decade-long captaincy that set the standard for what it means to be a leader in this league. The farewell tour isn\u2019t quite closed yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3. Can the Kings find\u00a0their footing on\u00a0special teams?<\/p>\n
Of all the eye-catching stats and accomplishments piled up by Colorado this year, perhaps the most surprising one is about their power play\u2026 because it\u2019s not all that good. It may, in fact, be the lone (relative) weakness on this Avalanche squad.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Kings, that doesn\u2019t appear to present a window of opportunity to exploit. L.A.\u2019s penalty-kill unit has struggled all year and has actually worsened since Smith took over as coach.\u00a0Considering the Kings\u2019 penchant for shutdown defending, it\u2019s a surprising weakness \u2014 and one that Colorado will surely look to exploit, if the Kings can\u2019t clean things up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good news, Kings fans: No longer must you dread yet another first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[198,146,5300,5,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-554936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-edmonton","9":"tag-edmonton-oilers","10":"tag-edmontonoilers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116423102521023061","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}