The first two games of this series have played out almost exactly the way the Los Angeles Kings have wanted.
Almost.
It’s been choppy. It’s been grimey. The Kings are winning on special teams.
And yet the Colorado Avalanche left for Los Angeles on Wednesday with a 2-0 series lead, emboldened by its work without the puck, patience and signs that this may be a more well-equipped group to survive games like this than previous editions.
“I’m happy with the way we’ve been sticking with it, and we have absolutely no problem playing this way. I think we like playing this way,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said early Wednesday morning after a 2-1 overtime win in Game 2. ” We know what we need to do to be successful and to be be hard to play against defensively. For us, that’s kind of where our game starts is our checking game.”
Colorado was the most explosive offensive team in the NHL this season. The Avs led the league with 297 goals.
That has been the club’s identity, at least externally, quite literally since the franchise moved to Denver. Colorado has scored the second-most goals in the NHL over the past 30 seasons, behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Joe Sakic. Peter Forsberg. Nathan MacKinnon. Cale Makar. A bunch of their highly-skilled friends.
Jared Bednar fostered offensive excellence with this group with an aggressive, attacking mindset, backed by game-breaking talent and quality depth players. Guys arrive in Denver from other NHL clubs and just get better offensively.
But all that overshadows how the 2025-26 edition of the Avalanche became the league’s best team in the regular season. Bednar has always stressed defensive solidity first, and the offense will flow from there. This team also allowed the fewest goals.
This team, shaped by recent postseason failures and additions that have made it the deepest Avs group since 2022, has bought into that idea. And against an inferior opponent that wants to play a grind-it-out style, the Avs’ defensive prowess has stood out.
“We know (the Kings) going to check hard and play the right way and they’ve been consistent at that all year and so have we,” Bednar said. “I liked our checking game again tonight. We’re digging in on the defensive side of things.
“Thatap how we have to win. Itap good practice. Itap something we’ve been talking about all year, the importance of the defending, and I’m happy with the commitment that we’re getting from our guys.”
While the Avs have only scored four goals in the first two games, the most important number so far might be zero — as in, Colorado is the only team that has yet to allow a goal at 5-on-5. The Avs have controlled this series when it’s been played at 5-on-5.
Los Angeles goaltender Anton Forsberg has been very good, but Scott Wedgewood has been a little better. The Avs have remained patient, bolstered by their confidence in Wedgewood and their ability to find offense when needed.
The low scoring has led to some anxious moments, and it’s only two games. Maybe the Kings will find a way to create more without allowing the floodgates to open at the other end of the ice.
The Avs would like to create more. They did create more in Game 2. The score looks the same, but Colorado had control of the game for much longer stretches than it did in Game 1.
At a minimum, the Avs have shown they don’t need to blink if the games in this series continue to be a grind. The Kings may have bolstered their belief by staying with the Avs for two games at Ball Arena, but those contests have had a similar effect for the club that’s already up 2-0.
“Playoffs are going to be hard,” MacKinnon said. “It’s a really good team over there. They’re playing hard. We’re playing hard. Itap low scoring, but it’s fun hockey. I thought we played pretty solid. I thought we had a lot of good looks, generating a ton. Their goal has been really good. Our goalie has been really good.
“It’s playoff time. You definitely can get frustrated during the regular season, but playoffs … there’s no time for that. You got to be, you know, 100% in, team-player positive and you’ve just got to stick with it. I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things and we’re up to it.
“It’s low-scoring games, but itap not about the amount of goals. Just got to get some wins.”
