After dominating three rounds of their postseason competition, the Colorado Avalanche are headed to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Avs’ superstars have delivered, as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are both making strong cases for the Conn Smythe. But they’ve gotten superb production from depth players as well, including a series-winning goal from Artturi Lehkonen in Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers. With their second series sweep of the postseason, it’s taken the Avalanche only 14 games to roll through three opponents.
What makes the Avs so exciting to watch — and so difficult for the opposition to defeat? Let’s explore the key factors as Colorado has moved one step closer to the Cup.
Yes, Colorado is that good
Let’s start with the facts: In eliminating Edmonton, the Avalanche became just the sixth team in the last 20 seasons to sweep a conference final series. That places Colorado in elite company — but not necessarily on the fast track to a Stanley Cup win. Only two of those five teams — the 2009 Anaheim Ducks and 2010 Chicago Blackhawks — went on to hoist the Cup. The 2003 Ducks and 2019 Boston Bruins lost in Game 7 of their respective Cup Final. The 2013 Bruins lost in Game 6.
This Colorado team is its own unique animal. We’ve seen them do it all. The Avalanche swept their first-round series against the Nashville Predators without starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper available for almost half of it. They did the same in a conference finals sweep of the Oilers, relying as seamlessly on Pavel Francouz as they would Kuemper. Goaltending can make or break a playoff run; Colorado rolled along whether Kuemper and Francouz were dominant or decent.
It was the same story offensively. When the Avalanche’s top line wasn’t firing, its second and third units scored timely goals, or Colorado got a key contribution from some unlikely hero (for example, Darren Helm‘s goal with 5.6 seconds left in regulation of Game 6 against St. Louis to punch Colorado’s ticket to the…
Click Here to Watch the Video from www.espn.com – NHL…