Avalanche will play Golden Knights in Stanley Cup Second Round
Colorado swept St. Louis to advance; Vegas eliminated Minnesota in Game 7
By
Sean McCullen / NHL.com Staff Writer
"We've played them eight times this year so we should know them pretty well," Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves said Saturday. "We know they come hard, they're good defensively, opportunistic. They play hard, they're fast, they're physical. We know each other very well, they're a big, physical team so we kind of know what to expect. We're kind of expecting a good series, back and forth, we know to beat a team like that we're going to have to have our best game."
Colorado, the No. 1 seed in the Honda West Division, swept the No. 4 seed St. Louis Blues in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Golden Knights, the No. 2 seed, defeated the No. 3 seed Wild 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday to win that best-of-7 series.
Colorado won the Presidents' Trophy for the best record in the NHL on the regulation wins tiebreaker over Vegas.
"The best team in the League," Vegas forward Max Pacioretty said. "Arguably have the best player in the League, a couple of them. We've got to make life hard on them. We knew to get to where we want to go, we'd have to go through them at least in the second round. We're going to get each other here pretty fresh. We both had the same record and they got us on [the tiebreaker], but everyone believes they're the measuring stick team in the League. They've been sitting at home, probably resting up, but no matter what, we've got to make life difficult, especially on their star players."
Game 1 of the second round is at Colorado on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"For us, the main focus is pre-scouting Vegas and making sure we come out and have a good Game 1 and making sure we set the tone high," Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said.
Nathan MacKinnon leads Colorado with nine points (six goals, three assists) this postseason. Landeskog has scored eight points (two goals, six assists), and Mikko Rantanen has scored seven (one goal, six assists). Philipp Grubauer is 4-0 with a 1.75 goals-against average and .936 save percentage.
Colorado forward Nazem Kadri was suspended eight games for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk in Game 2. He served the first two games of the suspension in Games 3 and 4 and had a hearing for his appeal on Thursday.
"It takes a team to win," Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews said. "It doesn't matter what line scores or what night or what line's going, it takes everyone to win games, not just your top lines, you need everyone, so that's why you're seeing the defense kind of contribute and other guys [who] contributed in the regular season you don't think you want to talk about, but it matters in playoffs."
Mattias Janmark scored a hat trick in Game 7 to lead the Golden Knights with six points (three goals, three assists) this postseason. Mark Stone scored four goals, and Chandler Stephenson has five assists. Marc-Andre Fleury played the entire series and had a 1.71 GAA and .931 save percentage.
The Avalanche were 4-3-1 against the Golden Knights in the regular season. MacKinnon scored six points (two goals, four assists) to lead Colorado, and Toews scored three goals. Grubauer was 4-2-1 with a 1.86 GAA and .935 save percentage, and Devan Dubnyk allowed four goals on 25 shots in a 5-2 loss April 28 in his only game with Colorado against Vegas.
"They have a lot of speed and skill," Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. "They're good in all areas of the ice. Their lineup is very good, all the way through it. Limiting that speed, limiting that skill, making life tough in all areas of the ice. I think focusing on our game too, and what we do well. If we're executing that game plan and managing pucks, doing all the little things that make us a good team are going to be key. Looking forward to the next series."
Pacioretty led Vegas with eight points (six goals, two assists) against Colorado; the forward played in Game 7 after being out since since May 1 with an undisclosed injury. Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault each scored three goals. Fleury was 4-3-0 with a 2.14 GAA and .932 save percentage, and Robin Lehner allowed two goals on 21 shots in a 2-1 loss May 10.
"I think we've gone a lot this year where we've held teams to that 15-23 range of shots," Toews said. "That's not a lot to give up, it's one of our goals every night to limit the amount of shots and limit them to the outside. It's a five-man group defending, it can't just be the [defensemen] defending down low and breaking up rushes with our backcheck and making sure we have the puck and possession as well. It's just a whole team community we have down low in our zone in order to go get the puck and go play offense."
The Avalanche and Golden Knights have never played a postseason series. The full second round schedule has not been announced.
"I think at this point it's about fine-tuning your game and being sharp on your adjustments," Landeskog said. "We know them, they know us, so it's going to be an exciting series."
NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale and independent correspondents Rick Sadowski and Danny Webster contributed to this report
