SERIES SCHEDULE<\/p>\n
(Best-of-seven, all times PT)<\/p>\n
Game 1: Noon Sunday at Ball Arena (Denver)<\/p>\n
Game 2: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Ball Arena (Denver)<\/p>\n
Game 3: 7 p.m. Thursday at Crypto.com Arena<\/p>\n
Game 4: 1:30 p.m. April 26 at Crypto.com Arena<\/p>\n
*Game 5: Time TBD April 29 at Ball Arena (Denver)<\/p>\n
*Game 6: Time TBD May 1 at Crypto.com Arena<\/p>\n
*Game 7: Time TBD May 3 at Ball Arena (Denver)<\/p>\n
* \u2013if necessary<\/p>\n
HEAD-TO-HEAD<\/p>\n
The Avalanche swept the regular-season series 3-0-0<\/p>\n
Oct. 7: Avalanche 4, Kings 1 at Crypto.com Arena<\/a><\/p>\n Dec. 29: Avalanche 5, Kings 2 at Ball Arena<\/a><\/p>\n March 2: Avalanche 4, Kings 2 at Crypto.com Arena<\/a><\/p>\n TALE OF THE TAPE<\/p>\n Avalanche (regular-season rank) \u2026 category \u2026 Kings (regular-season rank)<\/p>\n 55-16-11, 121 points \u2026 Season record \u2026 35-27-20, 90 points<\/p>\n 3.63 (1st) \u2026 Goals per game\u2026 2.68 (29th)<\/p>\n 2.40 (1st) \u2026 Goals-against per game \u2026 2.90 (T-7th)<\/p>\n 17.1% (27th) \u2026 Power-play Pct. \u2026 17.0% (28th)<\/p>\n 84.6% (1st) \u2026 Penalty-kill Pct. \u2026 74.6% (30th)<\/p>\n +99 (1st) \u2026 Goal Differential \u2026 -22 (T-21st)<\/p>\n 90.9% (1st)\u00a0 \u2026 Save Pct. \u2026 89.4%( 13th)<\/p>\n 51.2%\u00a0 (8th) \u2026 Faceoff Pct. \u2026 49.8% (17th)<\/p>\n FORWARDS<\/p>\n Adrian Kempe<\/a> tallied the most points in black and silver this season with 73, which would place him fourth on the Avs and not even lead their defensemen in scoring, much less their forwards. The addition of Artemi Panarin<\/a>, who accumulated 84 points in a bi-coastal campaign that saw him move from the Big Apple to L.A., certainly bolstered the Kings\u2019 power play and overall attack. But the loss of Kevin Fiala for the season<\/a> dampened Panarin\u2019s impact. Quinton Byfield<\/a> scored more than half his goals, 13 of 24, in 24 games after the Olympic break. Andrei Kuzmenko (torn meniscus) has progressed rapidly toward a return but probably cannot close the mountainous gap between the Kings and Avs alone.<\/p>\n Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL\u2019s top goal-scorer and racked up 127 total points. Martin Necas hit the 100-point mark for the first time and was one of just eight players to cross that threshold. Brock Nelson finally filled the elusive second-line center slot. The additions of Nicolas Roy and particularly Nazem Kadri, a pivot who\u2019d factored heavily into the Avs\u2019 2022 Stanley Cup triumph, at the trade deadline deepened their lineup while giving it edge and clutch scoring. With core and complementary pieces in place, it\u2019s hard to find a hole in the Avs\u2019 lineup. EDGE: AVALANCHE<\/p>\n DEFENSEMEN<\/p>\n Once the fulcrum of their success, the Kings\u2019 defense corps has been diluted and downgraded in recent seasons. The departure of Matt Roy<\/a> was hedged somewhat by the signing of Joel Edmundson two summers ago, but replacing Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> and Jordan Spence<\/a> with Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci<\/a> while Drew Doughty, 36 and in his 18th season, grays and frays has proven highly counterproductive. Gavrikov was the Kings\u2019 best defenseman last season and Spence, who performed effectively in his role for the Kings, was a key player down the stretch for the Ottawa Senators. Ceci and Dumoulin had little positive impact on the Kings, who slipped in terms of defensive effectiveness, regressed tremendously in the transition game and plummeted all the way to 30th of 32 teams on the penalty kill. On the bright side, Brandt Clarke emerged as a legit No. 1 option, while Doughty and partner Mikey Anderson were enlivened late in the year after battling injuries and mixed form,<\/p>\n The Avs possess what is regarded as the best top pairing in the world with perennial Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar and partner Devon Toews, who were also Canada\u2019s go-to duo at the Olympics. Behind them are the slept-on Sam Malinski and some old chums of the Kings: former Edmonton Oiler Brett Kulak, one-time San Jose Sharks Norris winner Brent Burns and Ducks draftee Josh Manson. Nick Blankenburg followed Kulak to Colorado, and the Avs boast quality, balance and depth on their blue line. EDGE: AVALANCHE<\/p>\n GOALIES<\/p>\n Darcy Kuemper was the starter for Colorado as they exalted in 2022, but he\u2019s likely to be the backup for the Kings in this series. Despite Kuemper being the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy last year, his solid start gave way to injury woes whose cumulative impact knocked him off his game and opened the door for Anton Forsberg. The backup brought the ship into port during the regular season, stabilizing the backstop amid a tooth-and-nail playoff race, but isn\u2019t exactly a name-brand netminder. At 33, he has never made an appearance in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s tandem was something of a reclamation project, with Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood once jockeying around a New Jersey Devils organization that was looking high and low for goaltending. They\u2019ve thrived in the Mile High City, with Wedgewood making six more appearances than Blackwood during the season, and they could continue to rotate. They combined to win the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed. EDGE: AVALANCHE<\/p>\n SPECIAL TEAMS<\/p>\n Over the past two seasons, only the Carolina Hurricanes had a better penalty-kill percentage than the Kings, but this year they went from regal to plebeian while shorthanded, turning in the third-worst PK percentage in the league. Their power play didn\u2019t exactly pick up the slack, though it has been more dangerous with Panarin, jumping from 16% to 20% since his Feb. 25 debut. Still, only five teams had a lower conversion rate, and their man-advantage meandering spanned most of the season.<\/p>\n That was also true of the Avs, whose elite penalty kill was not supplemented by even a competent power play despite the presence of some of the NHL\u2019s most dangerous offensive weapons. But they rose from a 15.8% clip to 21.7% once Kadri rejoined them March 10. EDGE: AVALANCHE<\/p>\n COACHES<\/p>\n Jared Bednar has a Stanley Cup to his name and in his first NHL coaching gig he has established himself as one of the most coveted commodities behind the bench.<\/p>\n