Kelly had spent his first season with the Colorado Avalanche watching and admiring Gabe Landeskog’s attempt to come back from knee issues. Then, when it was time for the captain to finally return, Kelly was mesmerized.

It was Game 3 against the Dallas Stars, 1,032 days since his last appearance in an NHL game.

“I remember going out for warmups that game and it’s basically 95% full already in the lower bowl, at least,” Kelly said. “I’ve never experienced walking out into warmups and having that much of the crowd there already. It just goes to show how much it means to the city, the fans, to our team in the room.”

Landeskog will take the ice Thursday night for the Avs in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. There will be no extra fanfare.

It was one year ago — April 23, 2025 — that Landeskog became the first player to return to the NHL after having knee cartilage transplant surgery. When he was announced in the starting lineup, it was one of the loudest moments in the history of Ball Arena.

“It was an exciting day for sure,” Landeskog said. “A lot different than this year. I still remember it like it was yesterday, but a very different feeling this year. Obviously we’ve had a long regular season lead up. So, yeah, a lot more comfortable this time around.”

Landeskog joined the Avs for Game 3 against the Stars and almost instantly became one of the best players in the series. That was remarkable, considering the layoff, but how his body would respond to a full season of hockey was another matter.

When Landeskog showed up for training camp, the plan was … very to be determined. How much could he play? How effective could he be over an 82-game schedule?

Landeskog played in 60 games for the Avs. He dealt with two of the most painful injuries imaginable — broken ribs after crashing into the goal post in South Florida and then a Cale Makar shot to his groin area that required surgery. But, he also did not miss a game to manage his knee.

It’s an unanswerable question if he would have needed to have been available for all 82 games, but it’s still yet another remarkable data point in his comeback story.

“I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest,” Landeskog said. “I was kind of open-minded coming into the season. I just didn’t know what to expect. I was prepared to maybe miss time at the start, but I knew I was just going to go into it and kind of get to know my body again, get to know my knee and how much it can handle with so many games. I think I’ve been very pleasantly surprised all year with how it’s handled all the things I’ve thrown at it.”

Landeskog had 14 goals and 35 points in 60 games. It was a slow start, in part because he had multiple goals taken away by official reviews. He had 18 points in the 25 games that preceded the rib injury.

Regardless of his production, how the Avs played when he was available became a recurring theme. Colorado went 45-7-8 with the captain in the lineup, just an absurd pace that helped the Avs cruise to the Presidents’ Trophy.

“I think our team does react differently (with Landeskog) and I think our team, there’s something about his ability to help our guys remain focused and even keel, it����ap hard to explain,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “But it����ap a different reaction from our team, a different mentality from our team when he’s in the lineup.”

Players like Kelly heard stories about Landeskog after arriving in Colorado. It was the way other veterans on the team revered Landeskog, even when he hadn’t played for three seasons.

This year, Kelly has seen what all the hype was about.

“Guys who have been here were like, ‘You gotta wait to see what it’s like when he’s back in the room,’ ” Kelly said. “It����ap so cool to see it through your own eyes, and not just like be a fan and watch on TV or see interviews, hear stories. When he speaks, man, it’s unbelievable. He’s always got the right thing to say. He knows when to say it, at the right time, the right tone. You see his willingness to stand up for teammates.

“I don’t know if there’s a mode, but if you can go on NHL26 and build the captain, you just copy Gabe Landeskog. That’s what you’re going to build. He has it all, man. … Just feel super lucky to play with him and super happy for him to get back in the lineup, do as well as he’s done this year, making an impact every night. Yeah, it’s pretty special to see.”

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.

“That����ap how we have to win. It����ap good practice. It����ap 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. It����ap 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 it����ap not about the amount of goals. Just got to get some wins.”

“I made a couple of nice plays and got a couple of shots on that (Kings crease) and obviously was lucky to get one,” Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy reflected when asked about his scrappy overtime goal, the one sending Colorado into Los Angeles on Thursday night with a 2-0 series lead.

“But again, I like to be in this area (of the crease), and a lot of those goals are scored there. So I try to be there as much as I can.”

The Nic of Time came 7:44 into overtime late Tuesday, not long after the referees had gifted the K.O. Kings a 1-0 cushion — forcing Marty Necas to go reverse 5-hole with Gabe Landeskog and claw the Avs back.

The 6-foot-4 Roy, acquired from Toronto for a first-round pick at the trade deadline this past March, is built like the girder of an old-time baseball park. He’s strong, lean, sturdy, and hard as all heck to see around during parts of the action.

In the Colorado spirit, once Big Nic started camping in Los Angeles goalie Anton Forsberg’s crease, it was only a matter of time before somebody started a fire. While Roy and Kings defender Brandt Clarke swapped shoves in front of the L.A. net, the Avs’ Josh Manson collected a feed from Nazem Kadri, cocked his stick back, and fired from the blue line.

With that, Brandt blocked Manson’s wrister, only to lose the rubber as it trickled under him. An alert Roy leaned in and shoveled the loose puck past Forsberg to end one of the weirdest playoff nights in Ball Arena history.

“(Roy has) been awesome,” Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon said later. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a really smart player, awesome guy. (Joel Kiviranta) almost scored right before him, and then (Roy) found a way to get it done.”

Avs 2, Kidney Punch Kings 1. They found a way. They found a Roy, in spite of it all. Hockey justice is supposed to be blind in April. But not nearly as blind as the zebras that worked Avs-Kings Game 2.

Artemi Panarin lofted the puck over Colorado net-minder Scott Wedgewood on the power play with 6:56 left in the third period to break the deadlock, giving the underdogs a 1-0 lead. But ain’t it funny how officials didn’t notice the cross-check in front of the Avs goal, as Los Angeles’ Scott Laughton shoved Devon Toews halfway to Littleton?

Cale Makar? Elbow to the chin.

Marty Necas? Elbow to the nose.

That second one, a cheap shot by the Kings’ Mikey Anderson, is a felony in 45 states. On Tuesday, it was two minutes for roughing.

From four blind mice in stripes to in-game stadium repair, it turned into one long, strange trip of an evening. The second period had a little bit of everything. Everything, that is, except a goal.

Some goaltenders raise the roof. Wedgewood rattled the windows — helping to break the glass that separates Avs fans from the Kings’ bench.

Not directly, mind you. See, roughly 3:12 into the second stanza, Wedgie stoned a penalty shot awarded to the Kings’ Quinton Byfield, the result of a particularly curious call on Cale Makar. The Avs goalie dove hard to his left, extending a glove to stop the Los Angeles forward’s backhanded try.

With that, the superb gave way to the surreal. Ball went justifiably bonkers over Wedgewood’s stop. So bonkers, in fact, that the glass partition behind the L.A. bench completely shattered due to repeated banging by Avs faithful. The collision sent a shower of shards into the back and shoulder of unsuspecting Kings coach D.J. Smith and his staff.

And cue the oddest of odd playoff delays. The away bench had to be cleared as cleaning and maintenance crews rushed in to sweep up debris. New glass was installed after a 17-minute delay, during which both teams remained on the ice.

In hindsight, the stoppage might have slowed down a chance for the Avs to immediately capitalize on the juice generated from Wedgewood’s penalty save.

“That’s a different one,” said Avs coach Jared Bednar, who took a stray puck to the face against Vegas earlier this month. “I mean, stuff happens.”

The rough stuff happened early and often. Manson separated Laughton from his spine with 10:28 to go in the first. After Wedgewood smothered a Trevor Moore wrister on a Kings 2-on-1, a full-scale donnybrook exploded near the Colorado net.

Once order was restored, the assailants skated to the Los Angeles end of the ice. But not all — Necas got sandwiched between the Kings’ Mathieu Joseph and Anderson at center ice, a collision punctuated by Anderson reaching up to elbow the Avs winger right between the nostrils.

Meanwhile, Artturi Lehkonen boarded a dude behind the Los Angeles net with the subtlety of an Estes Park elk. Somebody grabbed Sam Malinsky, and we had another scrap, only on the other end, and with everybody on the dance floor.

When the dust settled for a second time, Brett Kulak got four minutes — two for roughing, another two for cross-checking — in the box, and Anderson only had to serve two in his box on a roughing charge.

Nevertheless, the chippy persisted. The Kings’ 6-foot-5 forward Jeff Malott bopped the 6-foot Makar in the face with 4:18 left in the opening period as they hovered above Wedgewood’s crease just before a stoppage in play.

Necas got a little of his back in the Avs’ last possession of the opening 20 minutes, shoving Anderson into the boards behind the Kings’ net a few seconds ahead of the stanza-ending horn. Why should Vegas and Utah have all the fun?

“I guess I’d better keep my head up, huh?” . “No bicycles on the highway.”

The goalie duel continued, even as the Avs generated a 3-on-1 with 4:26 left in the second stanza, a rush that had the natives rising to their collective feet again.

Only Necas dished to Landeskog rather than ripping one while he had a good look. That little hesitation gave Forsberg enough time to snuff out the danger.

Shoot, Marty!

Ah, shoot, Marty.

Playoff Necas rebounded. With 3:35 left in regulation and the Avalanche down, 1-0, Marty camped out behind Forsberg’s left shoulder, waited for help, and found an open Landy cutting into the crease. No. 88 slipped a perfect diagonal pass between Forsberg’s leg pads and onto the stick of the Captain, who didn’t miss — lighting the lamp and sending another grindy contest into overtime.

In case of awful officiating, just break glass. And call on Roy to clean up the NHL’s mess.

“I’m joining a group of guys (in Colorado) that have built something really good here,” Saint Nic said of Avs life. “(I’m) just trying to chip in as much as I can, help these guys out in any way I can.”

No bicycles on this highway, kids. Here today. Goon tomorrow.

Sean Keeler: Friday, when you toss in the snow and the USWNT? So cool. Literally. Saturday? Electric. Sunday? TCB. As in, Take Care of Business. And, by golly, the Avs better. When it comes to the first two rounds of the playoffs, there’s more pressure on Bednar to not get upset, because a.) He’s been here longer and everyone’s opinion on the big guy — pro or con — is pretty well set in stone by now; b.) You’re the No. 1 seed; c.) Bednar’s contract is up after next season. The Kings are the kind of first-round opponent the Avs should dispense of quickly — but they’re also the kind that are going to make you absolutely work for it. The Kings are going to hit you late. Hit you early. Hit you coming off the dang bus. Ugly hockey with a hot goaltender is Plan A for any underdog, and Bednar has to prove for the next eight days or so that he can win 3-2, 2-1, 1-0 kind of slugfests. So far, so good.

Renck: Outcomes microwave expectations. The Nuggets shot poorly and still smashed the Timberwolves in Game 1. It cemented the notion that Denver is capable of reeling off 16 victories over the next two months. But it is not likely. Having to go through the Spurs and Thunder creates a path more suited for a mountain goat. This is the first reason Adelman has less at stake. The second? Injuries provided him cover all season. The Nuggets secured the No. 3 seed because of his dynamic offense and ability to help role players reach their potential. But if Denver loses to the Spurs, for instance, it will be viewed as a disappointment, not a crash out. The same cannot be said for Bednar if the Avs fail to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

Keeler: The outside noise will be louder for whatever the Nuggets do (or don’t do) this spring. The road’s tougher. The tension’s higher. Adelman’s regular season had more twists and turns than Nikola Jokic’s over 30 now, and everybody knows we’re unlikely to see his kind of NBA greatness in Denver gold, for this long, ever again. Josh Kroenke loves all his assets equally (wink), but let’s also be real: He’s a hoopster, not a puck head. The highest-up in KSE have the last word on Nuggets business. When it comes to the Avs, they’re more likely to defer to Joe Sakic and Chris MacFarland and admit they know what they don’t know. Unlike the end of the Michael Malone Era, Bednar’s led a comparatively calm, steady ship. Sakic digs that. C-Mac digs that. So do Josh and Stan.

Renck: Bednar has shown growth this season. He seems more willing to experiment, and demonstrated common sense by sticking with Scott Wedgewood in goal. Management has always exercised patience with Bedsy. But fans will not. In the recent ESPN top 50 ranking of players in the postseason, the Avs featured three in the top 10 — MacKinnon (first), Cale Makar (fourth) and Martin Necas (10th). And Wedgewood came in at No. 34. It is impossible to have this kind of star talent and steady third-and-fourth-line grinders and not be favored. Bednar is under more pressure, but must remain aggressive. Adelman, in some ways, has nothing to lose after the first round. Bednar must see his situation as everything to gain.

Keeler: And as much as we harp on Joker’s window, the Avs have long since pushed all their chips to the middle of the table. They’re bringing nine players who are 31 years or older into the postseason grind. Gabe Landeskog is 33. Naz Kadri is 35. Brent Burns is 41. If it’s not now, is it never? Should Bedsy get bounced before the second round, Stan Kroenke might have no choice but to change horses in a race he’d prefer to leave alone.

“A little anxious to get going, but the 1 p. m. game, you don’t really have much (time) to think about it,” Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood said after stopping 24 of 25 Los Angeles shots in a 2-1 Stanley Cup Playoffs victory. “So just get up, prep, and go. And once we got a few shots on and settled down, the crowd was into it. First TV timeout, I was talking to (fellow goalie Mackenzie Blackwood), just kind of felt like my heart rate was a little high. But once we got going, it just felt like normal again.”

The nicest thing you could say about Wedgewood — “Wedgie” to the Ball Arena faithful who chanted his name repeatedly Sunday — was that his first-ever career NHL postseason start, at age 33, looked pretty much like one of his normal, composed regular-season outings in burgundy and blue.

For the most part, he kept the action in front of him. If not for a funny bounce in the third period, he would’ve kept every puck in front of him, too. Nineteen even-strength saves, five power-play saves, no muss, no fuss.

“We have so much trust in him and he’s super-composed,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said Colorado’s now-official 1A net-minder. “Super-positive all the time, whatever the circumstances are. And we know if we have breakdowns, which are going to happen, he’s got our back throughout that. And just seeing his game grow, (as a) late bloomer, having the best season he’s had in his career right now at the perfect time for our team has been special to watch.”

Wedgewood, sitting to O’Connor’s left on the Avs’ makeshift stage, lit up at that one.

“Thanks, dude,” the goalie said.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of bums. And chippy bums, at that. The Kings went into this series with a lot of bark and almost no offensive bite. Los Angeles let its elbows do most of the talking Sunday, and the message was clear: We have no chance in heck to beat you clean, so you wanna throw down some gloves and dance?

Clarke shoved O’Connor at least once. With eight minutes left in the contest, Kempe bonked Cale Makar in the back of the head, then went to the box for mixing it up with captain Gabe Landeskog, who came to Makar’s defense, shortly thereafter. At least it served the top-seeded Avs a taste of what’s to come — eight straight weeks of knuckle sandwiches.

“Absolutely, the intensity and physicality (are) going to ramp up as the rounds go on here,” O’Connor, the Mayor, a scrapper and poacher built for playoff hockey, noted after scoring his first goal since last April 26. “We know teams are going to want to try and push us out of games. We feel as though we can push back just as hard. I think that’s one great thing about our group, is the versatility within our locker room.

“You want to go (the style of a) 1-0 game, we like to think we can beat you at that. Track meet, if it happens, we’ve got that. Physicality, we have guys that are willing to step up. You know, as that happens, just try not to get frustrated with it. Teams are going to try and get under our skin, get under Cale (Makar’s) skin, whatever it may be, and I think it’s just on us to continue to respond with playing the right way, being disciplined, and continue to just stick to our game plan without getting frustrated.”

With that, Wedgewood leaned into the microphone and grinned.

“Not much more I can add,” the goalie deadpanned.

He added more than enough between the pipes. Wedgewood had to be on his tootsies early — the first 11 minutes were a snooze-fest, by and large. At the 9:06 mark of the opening stanza, the two teams had combined for as many giveaways (seven) as shots.

“I think just the atmosphere of it, you know, regular season-wise, you can get into some lulls throughout the game,” Wedgewood noted later.

“It’s always like you’re engaged, you’re going, and then once the TV timeouts or whistles go, I kind of flush it. Almost rely on (flushing) it, kind of like a golf shot. Each play, you’ve got something coming at you to dial in … And (that) just seems to kind of keep my brain from just being on all the time and getting exhausted and then also being completely out of it.”

Sunday proved more labor than love. The Kings have only two paths for pulling off an upset in this series: Either boring the Avs to death while hoping goalie Anton Forsberg can somehow steal a win; or goading multiple Colorado stars into assault and battery charges, and suspensions, along the way.

Los Angeles spent most of Sunday slowing the tempo and trying to drag a faster, better team into the mud with them. With 4:31 left in the second period, Nathan MacKinnon wristed a low line drive from the right faceoff circle that Forsberg parried but couldn’t corral. Enter Artturi Lehkonen, who swooped into the crease to clean up with Doughty still riding his back, remaining upright and curling the rebound around Forsberg’s right leg to finally light the tamp. When No. 62 cocked his head back to scream in chorus with the crowd, it felt like sweet relief as much anything else.

“They’re a tight-checking team, physical team, good team,” Avs scrapper Jack Drury said. “But we are, too.”

And until the final three minutes, Wedgewood met the moment as a No. 1 Cup goalie. With five minutes left in a scoreless first period, No. 41 turned away an Artemi Panarin wrister. With 3:11 left in a scoreless first period, The Avs veteran stoned a Trevor Moore wrister, then hung in while Doughty missed an open net.

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

Forty seconds into the second stanza, Wedgewood produced another nice save on a wrister by hard-charging Alex Laferriere. He held firm on the Kings’ first power play following the Avs’ unsuccessful replay challenge midway through the stanza.

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

As the Avs led 2-0 with 11:13 left in the third, the Colorado goalie found himself literally wedged into his left post while the Kings stabbed at his ankles. Nothing.

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

“WED-GIE!”

And 2.94 goals for the game. Los Angeles also whiffed on two open nets in the first 40 minutes. Luck be a Landy!

“What did you think of Scott Wedgewood’s first NHL playoff start?” Avs coach Jared Bednar was asked.

To this, the stoic Bednar raised an uncharacteristic (and bruised) eyebrow.

“Ever?”

“Yup,” the scribes murmured.

“Didn’t know that.”

“That said, what can you say about his game?”

“I thought he was fantastic,” Bednar replied. “Yeah, did everything he needed to do. Obviously, bigger stakes, more emotion, but played the exact same way that he’s been playing for us all year.”.

Ever the cad, Bednar still wouldn’t commit to saying Wedgewood when asked if 41 would be his starter for Game 2 on Tuesday night.

“Not going to answer that,” the Avs coach groused.

He doesn’t have to. The scoreboard did it for him. There’s a reason the Kings are walking kinda funny into Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Avalanche vs. Kings matchups: Who has the edge?

Kings: 35-27-20, 90 points; 2.68 goals per game (29th), 2.90 goals against per game (8th)

Avalanche: 55-16-11, 121 points; 3.63 goals per game (1st), 2.40 goals against per game (1st)

Offense

The Avs just missed being the only NHL club to score 300 goals this year, but their 298 was still seven more than Carolina in second and 78 more than the Kings. Colorado hasn’t had its full allotment of forwards together very often since the additions of Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy before the trade deadline, but everyone is expected to be ready for Game 1.

It’s the best forward group in the league if everyone is healthy. Nathan MacKinnon led the league in goals and should be a Hart Trophy finalist for the third straight year. Martin Necas collected 100 points for the first time in his career. Brock Nelson fired home 33 goals and formed a dominant two-way tandem with Valeri Nichushkin.

Kadri will likely center the third line and Jack Drury the fourth, but Ross Colton could end up on any of the bottom three lines. Parker Kelly’s 21 goals would be tied for third on the Kings. He could play on the fourth line for the Avs.

The Kings did make a big splash for Artemi Panarin and then added Scott Laughton just before the deadline. Panarin and Adrian Kempe with Azne Kopitar between them is a very nice top line.

Byfield has been hot lately and is a strong No. 2 center. Colorado’s depth should be a massive advantage. Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko would make this group look a lot more formidable, but both are injured any may not play in this series.

Advantage: Avalanche

Defense

Cale Makar missed some games with a minor injury, then returned and looked quite ready for the postseason. Will coach Jared Bednar start him with Devon Toews, or will he split them up? Brett Kulak has faced the Kings each of the past four postseasons with Edmonton. He could play with Makar and allow Toews to continue to skate with Sam Malinski, one of the breakout performers of the season.

Josh Manson missed the end of the regular season, but is expected to be ready for Sunday, and to be paired again with Brent Burns. The Avs led the NHL in offense from defensemen for the sixth consecutive season.

Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson lead the Los Angeles blue line. Doughty is 36 and played the fewest minutes per game of his career. Brandt Clarke is an offensive specialist who the Avs are going to try to pin at his end of the ice. The Kings added both Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci this offseason to play in games like this. Colorado’s top forwards will be delighted to see them on the ice.

Advantage: Avalanche

Special teams

The power play has been Colorado’s weak link all season, but it’s been less of one since the Olympic break. The Avs finished 27th with the man advantage … but the Kings finished 28th. And Colorado was 16th at 21.4% with the extra man after the break.

Meanwhile, the Avs’ penalty kill has been consistently elite all season. Colorado finished first in the league on the PK. Los Angeles has the worst penalty kill in the playoffs — 30th overall this season, and last since the Olympic break at 67.9%. The Kings can be dangerous shorthanded, and that’s been an issue for the Avs at times this season.

Advantage: Avalanche

Goaltending

The Avs won the William Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals this season. Scott Wedgewood led the NHL in goals against average (2.02) and save percentage (.921). Mackenzie Blackwood started the year 13-1-1, but has scuffled at times in the second half of the season. Both just missed out on representing Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper was on that Canada team after a strong start to the season. He may not be in net Sunday against his former team, though. Anton Forsberg has taken control of the position, winning five straight starts down the stretch to help L.A. qualify for the playoffs before dropping the finale to Calgary. Forsberg has a .914 save percentage since the Olympic break, while Kuemper has an .867.

We could see all four goalies in this series.

Advantage: Avalanche

Avalanche vs. Kings: 5 storylines to watch

1. Who is in net? The biggest unknown for the Avs is how the goalie situation is going to work. Scott Wedgewood has been the better goalie for a long stretch now, but Mackenzie Blackwood is still the long-term No. 1 goalie for this organization. Jared Bednar has said he will continue to play both guys.

2. Befuddle Byfield? The Kings top line is very good. Quinton Byfield has 11 goals in the past 15 games and centers the club’s go-to shutdown line. This could be a coming out party for him nationally if he comports himself well against MacKinnon and Co. If the Avs can keep him in check and make the Kings a one-line team, that should make this a short series.

3. Corral Clarke? 23-year-old Brandt Clarke is the type of offensive defenseman who can change games. The Kings also try to shelter him with a lot of offensive zone starts. Similar to Byfield, containing Clarke is a path to shutting down the Kings’ offense.

4. Power up? The Kings have some of the worst special teams in the league, in both phases. They’ve also had issues on specials teams during the playoffs the past few years. Colorado’s power play had a great March, but PP1 was in the garage for most of April because of injuries to Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri. This could, even should, be a chance for the Avs to find some success on the power play. And going close to perfect on the PK in the series isn’t out of the question.

5. One trip? These Kings have had a weird year. The coach got fired. They won 35 games. Everyone has counted them out. But … they’ve been better with Artemi Panarin and since Anton Forsberg got hot. They will play all of the motivational cards — nobody believes in us, we have nothing to lose, let’s win one series for Azne Kopitar before he retires. The Avs need to take control of this series early, not let up and make one trip to sunny Southern California, not two.

Avalanche vs. Kings series predictions

Corey Masisak, beat writer:  Once upon a time at another publication, I picked the Kings to win the Stanley Cup in five games. My boss asked how I could pick them in such a short series and my response was “because I can’t pick them in three.” This is that type of series, as long as the Avalanche take care of business early and don’t let the Kings start to believe. The Kings will try to slow game down, drag the Avs down into the mud and make it as coin-flip in nature as possible. They’re going to hope Anton Forsberg stays hot. They have a few standout players, but the Avs are much deeper. It would take a lot of things going wrong for this to be a long series, and catastrophic-type stuff for the Kings to win. Kings won that Cup Final in five games, by the way. And it was over in three. Avs in five.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist:  What better way to start a 2022 nostalgia tour than by waving hello (and good-bye) to old friend Darcy Kuemper in the first round? Chances are the former Avs net-minder won’t play much, unless MacKinnon, Necas & Company batter Anton Forsberg, the Kings’ likely No. 1 goaltender, early. And they could. The Avalanche swept all three meetings this season by an average score of 4.3-1.7 and haven’t posted fewer than four goals in any tussle against the Kings since December 2023. L.A.’s only chance is to muck it up, slow it down, and try to make things as ugly as possible — the Kings feature the lowest-scoring offense of any postseason team at 2.68 goals per game. Context: The Avs averaged 2.36 goals by the end of the second period. Get ‘er done, get ‘er done quick, and rest up for the bare knuckle brawl that’s looming in the next round. Avs in five.

Troy Renck, sports columnist:  The President����ap Trophy is a curse. But not in the first round. Not against the Kings. This is an ideal matchup for the Avs to work up a sweat before taking on the Dallas Stars. The Kings failed to manage a point against Colorado this season, outscored 13-5. The Kings received the interim coach boost – 11-6-6 – but they simply can’t score enough to avoid getting swept. Who is going to stop Nathan MacKinnon? Or Marty Necas? Or Cale Makar? No one, that’s who. Avs in four.

Lori Punko, deputy sports editor: The President’s Trophy winning Avs against the 20th best team in the NHL? It should — and most likely will — be a cakewalk for the Avs. Facing the Kings is a gift for MacKinnon & Company, but they need to take care of business and not look past this series to the winner of the Wild-Stars battle. Colorado got healthy at the right time, and if they dominate like they should, the Avs will be the better rested team going into the second round. Avs in five.

Kyle Newman, sportswriter:  Colorado makes an opening round statement: After winning the Presidents’ Trophy, they are in these playoffs to be the first winner of the trophy since the 2013 Blackhawks to also raise the Stanley Cup. Getting Cale Makar back from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for a few weeks down the stretch of the regular season is a boost to a roster already loaded with enough firepower to easily dismantle the Kings. The Avs will take care of business at home for a 2-0 lead in the series, then win a couple on the road to clinch the series by next Sunday in Los Angeles. The Kings put together a nice five-game win streak towards the end of the season, but their porous defense will be no match for the Avs’ top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas. Expect a lot of Colorado scoring blitzes in this series, as seen in the season opener when the Avs scored three second-period goals in a 4-1 win. Avs in four.

Avalanche complete franchise-best regular season, set to face L.A. Kings in first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs

Here's the full schedule and how to watch each game as the Avs embark on their 2026 playoff run starting Sunday at Ball Arena.

Avs vs. Kings playoff schedule

Game 1: 1 p.m. Sunday, April 19, Los Angeles at Colorado, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX

Game 2: 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, Los Angeles at Colorado, ALT, ESPN

Game 3: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, Colorado at Los Angeles, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX

Game 4: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26, Colorado at Los Angeles, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX

*Game 5: TBD Wednesday, April 29,  Los Angeles at Colorado

*Game 6: TBD Friday, May 1, Colorado at Los Angeles

*Game 7: TBD Sunday, May 3, Los Angeles at Colorado

*If necessary

Sam Malinski scored in regulation for the NHL-best Avalanche, who have won three of four overall and seven straight road games.

Connor McDavid scored his 48th goal for the playoff-bound Oilers, who have lost four of five. Edmonton fell two points behind first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division.

McDavid leads the league with 134 points and needs one more to become the seventh player in league history to reach 135 at least twice. The others are Wayne Gretzky (12 times), Mario Lemieux (five), Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne and Steve Yzerman.

Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves for Colorado, and Edmonton’s Connor Ingram also stopped 30 shots.

In the shootout, McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the first two rounds for Edmonton, and Valerie Nichushkin and Martin Necas replied for Colorado. Wedgewood then stopped a wrist shot by Jack Roslovic, opening the door for MacKinnon’s game-winner.

The Avs were missing Nazem Kadri (finger), Cale Makar (upper body) and Josh Manson (upper body) as they prepare for the playoffs.

The Oilers remained without forwards Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, although both resumed skating with the team on Monday.

Necas was held scoreless and still needs one point to reach 100 for the first time. Only four Avalanche players have ever hit the century mark — Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Up next

Avalanche: At the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Oilers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

___

AP NHL:

Sean Keeler: Two words, my friend: Seattle, 2023. Be careful. One of the most awesome/terrible/terribly awesome things about The Fight For Lord Stanley is that underdogs can bite and, unlike the NBA bracket, seeding can feel like just a number. On talent? On depth? On mojo? The Avs’ first dance partner shouldn’t matter. The Kings, Preds, Mammoth ought to all be glorified cannon fodder. But knowing the video-game boss that’s waiting in Round 2 (Dallas or Minnesota), and that the winner of Round 2 could win the whole darn thing if you survive said boss fight, give me rest over rust. Give me the softest softie and lightest lift possible. Give me the Kings, baby.

Renck: The Kings represent a team where the Avs will take names and crush dreams. Los Angeles features a terrific storyline as Anze Kopitar is retiring at season’s end. The Kings wisely had Kopitar, a classy, 20-year veteran, deliver an emotional goodbye to the fans after playing his final regular-season home game at Crypto.com Arena. It would have been awkward to address the crowd after getting swept in the playoffs. The Avs have steamrolled the Kings this season, going 3-0 and outscoring them 13-5. Colorado features the league’s best offense. Despite being a postseason regular, the Kings are offensive, ranking 29th in goals per game. The Kings, with their soft remaining schedule, are the Avs’ most likely opponent and easiest. Take the empty net.

Keeler: The Kings are also doing a mini-Nuggets, riding a four-game win streak — the longest active streak among West squads — into Monday’s action. I don’t have much hesitation about drawing Los Angeles first, but one of the few (other than Kopitar nostalgia) is running into a little guy on a heater. I remember how helpless the Predators’ defense looked chasing around the burgundy and blue in the opening round of ’22. This time around, you’d think Nashville is going to make the Avs work for it. Or work harder for it, at least. Colorado and the Preds split the regular-season series, Nashville has won at Ball, and perennial pest Ryan O’Reilly’s still lurking in the Music City — that is, as the “Mac” half of “Mac N Cheeze,” and no, What a time to be alive.

Renck: You can be the vibes guy. And reflect on the past. My vision is through the windshield. The Avs don’t require a first-round challenge, and the Predators are dangerous enough to make things interesting. Colorado needs exercise, reps, not a struggle against Nashville. The Avs will be measured by their postseason, their ability to return to the Stanley Cup finals. This is not chess. Give me the Kings, good health and all momentum headed into a cage match versus Dallas.

Keeler: You leave a marker with a No. 1 seed. You leave a legacy with a Cup. Of the last five NHL champs, only one faced a first-round series that went longer than five games — and that was when the Lightning held off the Panthers for a 4-2 series win back in 2021. A long Cup run is about winning battles of attrition, series after series, until you’re the last man standing. Heroes slip. Heroes fall. Heroes rise. Besides, don’t the Avs still owe La-La Land for Peter Forsberg’s spleen 25 years ago? Warm up the bus.

Much of Jared Bednar’s to-do list over Colorado’s final four regular-season games involves injury management ahead of the postseason.

He just probably didn’t think he would end up on the list.

The Avalanche coach left the home bench early in the third period of Saturday night����ap 3-2 overtime loss to the Golden Knights after getting hit in the right cheek with a puck lifted off the ice by Las Vegas winger Keegan Kolesar.

Bednar doubled over after getting hit in the right side of his head as top-line forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and others all turned to check on him.

After a few moments, Bednar was helped down the tunnel by training staff with a towel pressed over his right temple and head.

Bednar did not return to the bench area for the final 16 minutes, 39 seconds of regulation or overtime.

The Avs fell in overtime, 3-2, when the Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel drilled a wrist shot past Avs goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.

Bednar is “fully alert and fully conscious,” a team spokesperson said after the game, but was set to be transported to a local hospital for a CT scan and further evaluation.

“Obviously I hope he’s OK,” captain Gabe Landeskog said. “That was a scary situation.”

Vegas locks up playoff berth against No. 1 seed

Two nights after securing the President����ap Trophy and rendering their final four regular-season games academic, the Avalanche took the ice Saturday night as the hockey undercard in the state.

Moments before the puck dropped at Ball Arena, the crowd went wild as the jumbotron showed the DU Pioneers finish off a 2-1 national championship win over Wisconsin out in Las Vegas.

Unlike the Pios, who searched for offense much of the night before finding a late flurry, the Avs generated scoring chances early and a first-period lead when Devon Toews hammered home a power play goal 9 minutes, 17 seconds in.

Bedar said Thursday he and the staff would consider how to handle playing time and minutes down the stretch after clinching the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed and every other advantage out there to be had.

For this night, he settled on letting his guys play and at least one inched toward a career milestone. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, had plenty to play for and locked up a playoff spot with the win.

Martin Necas tallied point No. 99 on the season when he assisted on Toews’ opening goal. He needs one more to crest 100 points for the first time in his career.

Vegas leveled the game on a Mark Stone power play goal later in the first period and took a 2-1 lead early in the second before Colorado defenseman Nick Blankenburg scored his first goal in an Avs sweater since being acquired at the trade deadline last month.

With most of its regulars skating but two key pieces still out — Cale Makar missed his sixth straight game due to an upper body injury and Nazem Kadri a second straight due to a finger issue — Colorado generated more scoring chances through the first two periods than Las Vegas.

Among the best: Logan O’Connor skating in alone shorthanded on Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart but getting stopped at the doorstep.

It’ll still go down as a good Saturday for O’Connor, a former Denver University alum whose college team won its 11th title and whose campus went wild just south of Ball Arena.

Landeskog said there were periods where his team “dominated” but also periods where “they were in our zone. I liked our d-zone coverage at that point. Kept them, for the most part, to the outside. I liked our start, first period, quite a bit. They got kind of a fluky bounce, nice play by Stone to tap that one down to himself and put it in. There was good and there was not-so-good. There’s definitely things we can improve on, but overall a competitive game.”

Blackwood started in the net for Colorado and, after the back-to-back goals across the first intermission, settled into a rhythm. He made a series of high-quality stops in the third period and finished with 26 saves on 29 Vegas shots.

After Bendar left the bench, assistant Dave Hakstol took over most duties while fellow assistant Nolan Pratt communicated heavily with Colorado’s defensemen.

It provided quite a wrinkle in what otherwise shaped up to be a straightforward final week of the regular season.

“Certainly it’s a little unnerving,” Pratt said. “It’s scary when pucks are flying in there. It happens all the time and it was unfortunate tonight. It takes a second to recalibrate and get back to it.”

Now three games remain before the playoffs. Vegas is a possible, albeit unlikely, first-round opponent for Colorado, which knows its destiny even as a glut of teams jockey for position down ballot.

Bednar had said he hopes Makar will be back on the ice for at least some regular-season minutes, though at this point it remains to be seen whether that will happen during an early week road swing through Edmonton and Calgary or perhaps Thursday back in Denver for the regular-season finale against Seattle.

In addition to Bednar catching an errant puck, defenseman Josh Manson left the game with an upper body injury, the team announced during the third period, and did not return.

Pratt did not have an update on Manson, saying he’s still being evaluated.