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.

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 (Final: Avs 2, Kings 1)
Game 2: 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, Los Angeles at Colorado, ALT, ESPN (Final: Avs 2, Kings 1)��
Game 3: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, Colorado at Los Angeles, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX (Final: Avs 4, Kings 2)
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

The Avs had just checked off two of their three most-important goals for the regular season in one fell swoop. Colorado clinched the Central Division title and the top spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues.

It was eight years to the day that Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon helped the Avs return to the playoffs by defeating these Blues at Ball Arena in a Game 82, winner-take-all showdown for a golden ticket to the NHL’s postseason tournament. This was a very different postgame atmosphere.

It felt like another Tuesday night in a season full of them. Landeskog even feigned ignorance about what they had just accomplished.

“We’re not all the way there yet,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The goal for us started with winning the division and the conference (but) we still need another win to get first overall. We’d be crazy not to chase that at this point. It’s important, if you get to where you want to go, you might as well try and get your home ice, especially after a season like this.

“It feels great. I mean, we’re not throwing parades or that kind of stuff yet so, but we’re happy with where we’re at. We should celebrate it a little bit, because it’s a big goal of ours to start the year and we’ve accomplished part of it.”

For a group that has been in Stanley Cup or bust mode for at least the past six seasons, the Avs have kept the focus on what got them here — the process that led to a historic 31-2-7 start, and allows them to lock in and dominate a desperate team with far more motivation to show up and play well on a Tuesday night like this one.

How they played against the Blues was more important than celebrating a season-long accomplishment.

“Our focus has been trying to get our game to a point where we feel really about it defensively and offensively,” Landeskog said. “I really liked our game (Tuesday) night. I thought all four lines checked really hard. We created a lot of scoring chances. In the third period, I though we gave up a little bit too much, but they’re desperate. They’re playing for their lives at that point.”

The Avs are only 20-14-3 since that historic march to 69 points in 40 games. There have been lots of injuries. When two of their top-eight skaters (Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Brock Nelson, Valeri Nichushkin and Landeskog) are missing, the Avs are 9-10-3.

When one or none is missing, the Avs are 11-4-0 since the white-hot start. That version of the Avalanche is still in there. Colorado showed it Saturday afternoon in Dallas, and again Tuesday night in St. Louis.

It was the third game in four nights against a red-hot team trying to make a miracle save of its season. The Avs came out and suffocated St. Louis for the first two periods.

“I don’t have to see it for 60 minutes for every game the rest of the way,” Bednar said. “But we need to see it enough to secure our goals and making sure everyone is confident in the way we play and the trust you have in your teammates that you can do it the right way. That’s another big step for us (Tuesday) night.”

Bednar made it clear there is still one more to go. The Avs need some combination of two points gained or two lost by the Carolina Hurricanes to wrap up the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage through the Stanley Cup Final.

Beyond that, the Avs’ main goals through the final five games will be to get everyone as healthy as possible, and hopefully see a couple of strong outings from Mackenzie Blackwood, who has scuffled recently. There wasn’t a celebratory vibe in the cramped visitors locker room at Enterprise Center, but the Avs know one thing they’ve earned — fewer nights in small, unfamiliar rooms like this one once the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.

“There’s no do or die for it, but if you have the opportunity, you’re going to take it,” goalie Scott Wedgewood said after another strong start. “Home ice is super important. It’s an advantage. You spend more days at home in between rounds.

“Hopefully that will pay dividends for us.”

The Avs suffocated the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, dominating at the defensive end and on the shot clock en route to a 3-1 win at the Enterprise Center. The victory clinches the Central Division title and secures the top seed in the Western Conference during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It is the 13th division title since the franchise moved to Denver. It also came eight years to the day since Jared Bednar and this core of Avs players defeated these Blues in Game No. 82 to secure their first playoff berth together at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

“We set our goals at the start of the year, and we wanted to be on top,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “That’s a big step. We know it doesn’t mean anything come playoff time, other than we get an extra game at home every series.

“I think the most important thing for us is the way we played tonight. We’re working on our process, working on our game here. It’s going to be difficult playing some desperate teams, but we are tightening things up and making sure we are ready to start fresh when the playoffs start.”

Securing a division title has been a top priority for this club since Day One of training camp, particularly after last season ended with a crushing Game 7 loss in North Texas. Winning the Central means the Dallas Stars, who have been the second-best team in the NHL for much of this season, will have to play the Minnesota Wild, who spent part of this year as the third-best team and remain in the top-seven in the opening round.

Colorado’s first-round opponent remains to be determined, but the club that began the day in the second wild-card spot, the Los Angeles Kings, was in 20th place in the NHL standings — 17 points behind the Wild. The victory also moves the Avalanche to within one point earned or one point lost by the Carolina Hurricanes to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the postseason.

The Avs have been the standard-setter for the NHL this entire season. Colorado has been alone in first place in the NHL standings since Dec. 1, and had one of the best starts to a season in league history when the Avs went 31-2-7 in their first 40 contests.

That version of the Avs hasn’t shown up quite as consistently in the second half, at times in part because of injuries, but it did Tuesday night on the banks of the Mississippi River.

“We’ve been a little up and down here recently,” Bednar said. “Didn’t like our game against (Vancouver), loved it against Dallas. Didn’t love our game defensively the other night against the Blues, but tonight I really liked it. We are proving that we can do it when we set our minds to it, which is really important.”

Valeri Nichushkin, returning from a one-game injury absence, scored twice for the Avs. Scott Wedgewood had another night with long stretches of light work, but made 18 saves and is now 12-5-2 in 2006. Colorado is 9-9-0 since Jan. 1 when Wedgewood is not the goalie of record.

Colorado had arguably its most dominant period of the season to begin this contest. The Avs opened a 2-0 lead that could have been much worse. They outshot the Blues 17-2, and the shot attempts were 33-7. Per Natural Stat Trick, Colorado generated more than 96% of the expected goals in the opening 20 minutes.

“Those games as a goaltender, they’re still going to throw pucks at you, and everything still feels dangerous,” Wedgewood said. “But if you’re not facing the odd-man opportunities we gave up against Vancouver and the other night (against St. Louis), it’s a lot easier to not have to make desperation saves and keep things in front of you.”

Nichushkin had the first one, a tip-in of a Devon Toews shot at 16:11. Martin Necas had the second with 28 seconds left in the period.

It was Necas’ 37th goal of the year. Nathan MacKinnon had a great chance to score earlier in the shift before setting Necas up with an assist for point No. 123. That is the fourth-most in franchise history, behind his 140 two years ago and two seasons from Peter Stastny (124 in 1982-83 and 139 in 1981-82).

Nichushkin added his second of the night and 17th of the season 1:40 into the middle period while shorthanded. Brock Nelson set him up, cutting to the net, and Nichushkin put his stick between his legs for a highlight-reel goal.

“I liked his last handful of games,” Bednar said. “He’s looking like the old Val again. … It was a little bit of a continuation of what he’s been doing. He could have had three or four tonight. I really liked the way he played.”

FOOTNOTES: Nazem Kadri left this game in the second period with an upper-body injury. He blocked a shot with his hand in his final shift. … While Nichushkin and Nicolas Roy returned to the lineup, Cale Makar did not play. Bednar said he will likely miss a few more games, but is still expected to return before the playoffs begin.

The Avalanche had a chance to clinch the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference on Sunday, but the St. Louis Blues ruined the moment with a 3-2 victory at Ball Arena. St. Louis’ top line dominated, and Robert Thomas posted his first career hat trick, including the game-winner with just under three minutes left to bury Colorado.

The Avs, playing without Valeri Nichushkin on Sunday due to an upper-body injury and also still without Cale Makar due to an upper-body injury, couldn’t muster enough finishing touch on offense. Then the defense wilted at a critical moment, sealing the defeat.

“We gave up too many odd-man rushes,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “(The first goal) was because we’re disorganized coming into our zone, because they had numbers beating us up the ice. Odd-man rush on the second one, odd-man rush on the third one, and that can’t happen.”

Bednar said there’s a possibility Nichushkin is back on the ice for Colorado’s next game on Tuesday in St. Louis.

“I don’t want to be playing guys hurt if it can get worse,” Bednar said. “That’s what we did today with Val.”

On Sunday, in front of a sold-out Easter crowd, both teams squandered a couple of opportunities early, including Nathan MacKinnon missing a one-on-one and then the Blues also whiffing on a similar chance. Neither mustered a shot on net in those scenarios.\

“I just couldn’t finish (all game),” MacKinnon said. “It was one of those nights. Felt good, legs felt good, just couldn’t find the spots.”

About 10 minutes through the frame, the Avs briefly took the lead when Ross Colton batted a rebound out of the air and into the net off a deflection from the weak side. But upon video review on a St. Louis challenge, Colorado was offside, negating the goal.

A few minutes later, St. Louis took control off a chaotic sequence in front of the Colorado net. MacKenzie Blackwood made three saves at close range, but the Avs couldn’t clear the puck, and Thomas made them pay with a slap shot from the slot. That beat Blackwood on the top right shelf.

But the Avs responded, with Brent Burns — who was honored before the game for his 1,000-game streak that hit the milestone on Saturday in the road win over Dallas — forcing the action. Burns’ wrister through traffic deflected off Parker Kelly, then off a Blues defender and goalie Joel Hofer to equalize the game at 1-1.

In the second period, both teams scored within 29 seconds of each other to push the score to 2-2.

Burns’ wrister from up near the blue line found its way through traffic and into the bottom right corner of the net for Colorado’s first lead. Before PA announcer Alan Roach was even done celebrating the goal, however, St. Louis scored. Off an Avs’ chance, the Blues reversed the ice in a 3-on-2 rush that led to a tic-tac-toe pass and Thomas’ second goal of the night.

Five minutes into the third, the Avs nearly had a short-handed goal when Hofer got drawn out of the crease, but Colorado couldn’t punch it in amid a mass of bodies in front of the net.

And it was St. Louis that had the final say in a 2-on-1 rush, when Thomas got the feed from Jimmy Snuggerud on the weak side of the net and easily put the game-winner home. Snuggerud pulled off a toe-drag to shake Martin Nečas and zip the puck to a wide-open Thomas.

“I don’t know why Marty’s playing D (there),” MacKinnon said. “Tough way to lose.

“It’s a lot of winning and losing, back-and-forth lately. It was a tight game, but it would’ve been nice to just get a point there and take our chances in OT.”

The Avs have just one win in their last seven games in Denver, lacking the home cooking they had going earlier in the season, when they put together a 17-game home winning streak.

“We’re chasing the game a bit (at home),” Kelly said. “We want to make sure this is a tough building to play in and right now, it’s just kind of frustrating (with the recent results at home).”

Will it be easier to flush Sunday’s loss, considering the back-to-back games against the Blues, who remain in contention for a wild-card spot, and the imminent clinching of the No. 1 Western Conference spot?

“It makes it easier if we beat them on Tuesday,” Bednar said.

Think back to before the Olympic break. The Avs struggles reached a nadir when they went 0-for-17 with the extra man leading into the break, dropping Colorado to dead last in proficiency at 15.1%.

What was an obvious refrain? They need to shoot the puck more.

Well, the Avalanche had the second-most shots on goal in the NHL on the power play from the start of the season until the Olympic break. .

Part of the reason for that is Colorado earns a lot of power plays because of its style of play, so often the percentage-based stats and the accumulation numbers don’t quite line up. It was also, in part, because the Avs had so many power plays that lasted the full two minutes, which gave them more opportunities to put shots on goal.

The biggest issue wasn’t the quantity, but the quality of those shots, with a little bit of bad luck and other minor variables mixed in.

So what changed, and when? There have been several factors that led to a big improvement in March, when the Avs went 15 of 48 on the power play — the third-best rate in the NHL at at 31.3%.

“The change was long before the break,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The detail within the change was consistent, kind of before the break.”

Getting more quality shots

So what’s different since the break? Nazem Kadri is here, and that’s part of it. But a much bigger part is … the guys on PP1 are just executing better. They’re completing more passes, making better decisions and finding more high-quality looks.

“I have to lean like … the details, the execution, the hunger, the mindset, attitude, buy-in – to me, that’s on the players’ side of it,” Bednar said. “So 70/30 execution side of it, and all those things I just mentioned over like a change in plan since the break.”

Aesthetically, the Avs power play clearly looked better in the few games after the Olympic break. The fresh start after some time apart clearly helped. It looked more consistently dangerous, like a power play featuring a top-3 collection of talent in the NHL naturally should.

The goals started to come shortly after. Kadri’s arrival has given the club a defined first unit when everyone is healthy — Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Kadri. There’s no obvious net-front guy, like Gabe Landeskog or Valeri Nichushkin, but Kadri has become something of a poacher for the Avs on the opposite side of the ice from MacKinnon and Necas.

Mikko Rantanen brought the hammer from the right circle and scored some insane redirect goals near the side of the net. Kadri’s involvement has been more varied, but in him and Nelson, the Avs have found a balance of lefties to complement the MacKinnon-Necas duo.

Here is a look under the hood at the Avs’ power play and where it ranked in some key metrics, before and after the Olympic break (through March 31):

All stats are from or

The number of shots is about the same, but the quality is up across the board. Colorado’s expected numbers being so high is a big change — even in past seasons when the Avs’ power play was among the top 5-10 in the league, their expected numbers often lagged behind.

The reason? MacKinnon, Makar, and Rantanen, plus a net-front guy or two, can outshoot expected models with raw finishing talent.

If we look at the per-60-minute numbers, that weeds out Colorado’s ability to rack up volume solely from having so many power plays. It’s a better indicator of sustainable success.

The per-60 numbers are slightly lower than the volume numbers, but they still represent a dramatic improvement. That is much closer to the sweet spot the Avs are trying to find.

They have guys like MacKinnon, Makar and now Necas who can turn a so-so scoring chance into a goal with a nasty shot. But finding better looks more consistently has made everyone more dangerous.

How does that look at the individual level? The differences in both who is shooting and how much are noticeable.

Here’s before the Olympic break, both at the team level (on ice shot attempts per 60 minutes) and individual (shots on goal per 60 minutes):

As a reference, the Florida Panthers are the best team in the league over the course of the full season at 115 shot attempts per 60 minutes on the power play. The Vancouver Canucks are 10th at 106.72.

Now, here’s after the Olympic break, for the guys who have settled in on PP1:

Obviously, the shot attempt numbers are outstanding. MacKinnon’s is a little less because he stays out with PP2 a lot, and most teams’ second unit won’t put up the same numbers as the top group.

Kadri has been a big help, likely as much for his work with puck retrievals and his passing as upgrades over Victor Olofsson, who was out there because he can really shoot it (it just didn’t go in very often for him in Denver).

One of the biggest adjustments, though, is Necas. He’s putting way more shots on net. That has helped in a couple of ways. For one, he can really, really shoot it, which leads to more goals. A more spread-out approach is also helping to open up space for everyone.

It will be interesting to see whether more opposing teams try to pressure Necas and take him away, or whether the track record of MacKinnon and Makar keeps PKers from giving them more space.

“I think we have the talent there to be a top power play in the league,” Bednar said. “And it’s not a short stretch anymore, either. So they’ve been doing good things and getting rewarded for it. Every goal we get and every discussion we have, we expect it to sort of keep growing.

“And there’s a lot of good conversations between those guys on like, hey, did you see this. Let’s try that. And then it’s just kind of starting to click and come together for us.”

The Colorado Avalanche, smarting from four straight losses at home, were locked in from the opening shift Monday night and obliterated the rebuilding Calgary Flames, 9-2, at Ball Arena.

Nazem Kadri had a pair of goals against his former club. Superstar Cale Makar had three assists before not playing in the third period because of an upper-body injury. Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Parker Kelly and Jack Drury all had three-point nights as well and Colorado dominated this contest in all facets.

“I want to win. It’s as simple as that,” Kadri said about blowing out his former team. “I don’t care where I’m at. I want to win. That’s no disrespect … when the puck hits the ice, I want to make an impact on winning.”

Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves, including a few spectacular ones just for good measure, after the outcome was long decided. The power play was ruthless. The depth guys were relentless. It was a performance reminiscent of the Avs’ bulldozing run to the top of the league earlier this season.

With the win, Colorado’s magic number to win the Central Division and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is down to eight points, either gained by the Avs in their final nine contests or lost by the Dallas Stars in their last eight games.

Makar took a heavy hit from Flames forward Adam Klapka in the second period, and the television broadcast showed him speaking with one of Colorado’s athletic trainers on the bench and wincing in pain after that shift. Still, Makar took two more shifts before the end of the period, including one that ended with an assist on MacKinnon’s goal, before he didn’t play in the third.

Avs coach Jared Bednar did not have an update on Makar after the game.

The Avs have had some dominant performances this season, but the first 20 minutes on Monday will go on the short list of best periods of the season. It was a shooting gallery in the Calgary end.

Colorado finished the opening period with 42 shot attempts, 26 shots on goal (tied for second-most in franchise history) and 12 high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick. The Avs also had a 5-0 lead.

“We wanted to have a good start,” Bednar said. “In the last eight home losses, we’ve only scored first twice. Getting on the board early and jumping on teams has always been a hallmark of our successful home record. We addressed it … and I thought our guys did an excellent job.”

Jack Drury got the party started just 2:31 into the first. He finished a shift full of offensive pressure by banking the puck off Calgary starter Dustin Wolf and in from below the goal line. It was his 10th goal of the year, and it’s the first double-digit season of his career.

Colorado’s power play has improved this month, and the first period became the pièce de résistance. Calgary took a pair of penalties 40 seconds apart, and Kadri scored twice in 66 seconds.

Martin Necas set him up 23 seconds into the 5-on-3 to make it a 2-0 lead, then Kadri pounced on the rebound of a Brock Nelson shot to push the lead to three goals just 7:37 into this contest.

Kadri’s goals were Nos. 13 and 14 on the power play this month. Nathan MacKinnon added No. 15 late in the second period. The Avs had not scored more than eight goals with the man advantage in any other month this season.

Colorado reached the Olympic break with the NHL’s worst power-play percentage at 15.1%. The Avs are 15-for-48 this month, which is 31.3%. That is third in the league since March 1.

“It’s buy in. It’s execution,” Bednar said. “There’s a list of probably eight or 10 things there that if you make them 5% better, it affects your power play in a big way.”

The second line scored a highlight-reel goal to make it 4-0 before the halfway point of the period. Nelson’s long outlet pass started it, then captain Gabe Landeskog finished it with his 11th goal of the season after a slick pass from Valeri Nichushkin.

That was all for Wolf, who allowed four goals on 16 shots in just 9:19 of action. The fourth line kept rolling with another tally late in the period. Parker Kelly tipped a Makar shot past former University of Denver goalie Devin Cooley at 15:50 of the third.

Kelly now has 18 goals this season. His previous career high was eight, which he scored each of the past two seasons. Kelly has already signed a four-year, $6.8 million contract extension that starts next season, but 18 goals (and 31 points) with a $825,000 cap hit have made him one of the bargains of the 2025-26 campaign across the NHL.

“I think we’re all just really connected,” Kelly said of his line. “(Joel Kiviranta) and Jack make my life so easy out there. They definitely make me a better player.”

Colorado’s offensive assault slowed down in the second period, but MacKinnon scored on the power play with 35 seconds remaining.

It picked back up in the third. MacKinnon set up Necas for a one-timer at 6:24 of the third to make it 7-1. Sam Malinski scored on a rush less than two minutes later on a play set up by Kelly and Drury.

Sam Malinski, Hank Kempf and Matt Stienburg were there, with a couple other Cornell alums. Logan O’Connor and Sean Behrens were not in the building to watch the University of Denver Pioneers cruise past the Big Red in the first-round of the NCAA tournament, but the 5-0 victory is almost certain to come up again in the locker rooms of the Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Eagles in the near future.

Behrens won two national championships at DU in 2022 and 2024, but Malinski’s Big Red knocked the Pios out of the 2023 NCAA tournament. History lessons, especially with the NCAA tournament and the IIHF world junior championships, are common source material for chirps in an NHL locker room at certain times of the year.

With the NCAA hockey tournament in full swing, we’re going to borrow an idea from Nuggets writer (and Avs beat alum) Bennett Durando. Given that hockey has a more robust path for players to reach the professional ranks, we’re not just going to focus on the NCAA guys.

It’s a little tricky, but we’re going to classify this as “before North American pro hockey.” So playing in a pro league overseas as a young player will count, but the AHL will not.

So, who were the most accomplished Avs players in their younger days? Some of the names won’t be surprises, but a couple might be.

1. Cale Makar 

It’s a pretty interesting debate between the top two guys on this list, just like it can be an intriguing discussion at times about their value to the present-day Avalanche. Makar won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey and helped UMass reach the Frozen Four. He also won the Hockey East Player of the Year and was an NCAA All-America selection. He also helped Canada win gold at the world junior tournament. Before that, he also swept every major award in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and helped the Brooks Bandits win the league championship twice.

2. Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon won the QMJHL and, famously, the Memorial Cup with the Halifax Mooseheads. He was the MVP of the Memorial Cup, which included outplaying fellow potential No. 1 pick Seth Jones. He wasn’t the MVP of his team before that — Jonathan Drouin was. MacKinnon also won the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and led the tournament in scoring, but he was a depth guy on the WJC team, and Canada did not medal.

3. Artturi Lehkonen

It’s a pretty good debate about third and fourth on this list, as well. Lehkonen played for Finland at the world junior tournament three times, and won a gold medal. He also won the Liiga Rookie of the Year and a bronze medal at the U-18 world championships. Lehkonen spent a year in Sweden before coming to North America, and he won both the Swedish Hockey League and the Champions League with Frolunda.

4. Martin Necas 

Necas was a more productive junior player than Lehkonen, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that Lehkonen has done so much winning at all levels of his career. Necas has done plenty of that as well, and he’d be higher if we included his Calder Cup title with the Charlotte Checkers. Necas won the Czech Extraliga twice and was named both the league’s rookie of the year in 2017 and MVP in 2018. He also won the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and led that tournament in scoring.

5. Nicolas Roy

Roy was a superstar in the QMJHL. He was named a first-team all-star twice and led the ‘Q’ in goals one year. He has a nice collection of international medals as well — gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, silver at the world juniors and bronze at the U-18 tournament.

6. Gavin Brindley

Brindley played for the Americans twice at the WJC, winning both gold and bronze medals. He also won silver at the U-18 tournament. He won Big Ten player of the year and earned NCAA All-America honors while at Michigan.

7. Valeri Nichushkin 

Nichushkin won a gold medal at the U-17 world championships and a bronze medal at the WJC. He also won rookie of the year in the KHLin 2012-13 with Traktor Chelyabinsk. During that season, he played in international tournaments with Igor Shesterkin (U-18) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (WJC) as the starting goalies.

8. Nazem Kadri 

Kadri won a silver medal at world juniors. He also played in the Ontario Hockey League with Kitchener, a team coached by Peter DeBoer, and was named a second-team OHL all-star.

9. Brock Nelson

Before he became an American Olympic champion, Nelson won bronze at the world junior tournament. He also had a strong career at North Dakota, winning the old WCHA twice and playing in the Frozen Four.

10. Logan O’Connor 

O’Connor won an NCAA championship with the Pioneers. He also won the Clark Cup in the USHL as captain of the Sioux Falls Stampede.

Honorable mentions: Devon Toews won the British Columbia Hockey League with Surrey before winning the ECAC and reaching the Frozen Four with Quinnipiac. Parker Kelly won the WHL with Prince Albert. Mackenzie Blackwood won OHL goalie of the year, made the all-rookie team and was a first-team all-star with Barrie.

Colorado shook off a sluggish start, less than ideal ice conditions and a late goal from the greatest shooter of all time to claim a 3-2 overtime win Sunday afternoon against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Brock Nelson scored a tap-in at the left post after a beautiful sequence from Martin Necas to push the Avs five points in front of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division with 13 games to play.

“Because of the standings and what we are trying to accomplish, they are all big,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s not a bad place to be. I don’t mind the pressure that’s on our team to try and keep winning in the regular season. It should fine tune you and get you ready for the playoffs.

“You’re going to have to win games when you’re feeling good and cooking with gas, and you’re going to have to win games when you’re not at your best. You have to stick with it and be mentally tough. … It wasn’t a great game as a whole, but you’ve got to find a way on some of those, we did that.”

Colorado scored on its first two shots on goal of the third period to take the lead. Necas intercepted a pass by goalie Logan Thompson behind the Washington net and fed Gabe Landeskog for one of the easier goals of his career just 1:05 into the final period.

It was Landeskog’s 10th goal of the season. The Avs captain returned to the lineup Sunday after missing the past seven games with a lower-body injury.

Nicolas Roy caused rookie defenseman Cole Hutson to cough up the puck in front of Thompson, then collected it and ripped one past the goalie at 6:03 to push the Avs in front. That is Roy’s third goal in nine games since the joining the Avalanche ahead of the trade deadline. He had five goals in 59 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs before the trade.

Alex Ovechkin had an NHL-record 330 career power-play goals coming into this game. No. 331 got the Capitals back even at 2-2 with 5:43 left in the third. Landeskog went to the penalty box, and 20 seconds later Ovechkin uncorked a vintage one-timer from the left circle.

It was Ovechkin’s 923rd career regular-season goal, and No. 1,000 including the playoffs.

That was also Colorado’s fifth penalty of the game. The penalty kill had been perfect to that point, and had only allowed three shots on goal across the previous eight PK opportunities dating back to the Dallas game Wednesday night before Ovechkin’s rocket.

The Avs are now 6-10 in games that go past regulation. Given their advantage in regulation wins over Dallas (40-33), they are likely to win a tiebreaker .

That’s because Necas held onto the puck for several seconds in the offensive zone before finding Nelson for his 32nd goal of the season.

“That’s kind of the plan with Marty in a 3-on-3 situation. Just get him the puck and try to get open,” Nelson said. “He’s so good at creating space for himself and everybody else with how shifty he is, how quick he is and his possession play.

“Just an unbelievable play by him.”

Justin Sourdif had the lone goal of the opening period to put the Capitals in front. Colorado had the puck in the Washington zone, but a quick transition play and some miscommunication by the visitors cost them.

Both Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin converged on Connor McMichael near the blue line, but he flipped the puck out and into the path of Sourdif. He corralled it after three bounces and  neither Nathan MacKinnon nor Brett Kulak were able to track him down before the Capitals rookie fired one past Mackenzie Blackwood at 11:53 of the first.

It was an unseasonably warm day in the nation’s capital, and the arena has a significant amount of construction happening in and around it. That may have contributed to some issues with the ice, particularly in the first period. Players from both teams had to deal with it, but several Avalanche players fell or mishandled the puck in obvious situations where they normally would not.

Josh Manson fell while carrying the puck in the neutral zone, which led to a 3-on-1 for the home side. Devon Toews crashed hard into the boards after beating Ovechkin to a loose puck. It was a choppy period overall, but Soudrif made a great play to corral a bouncing puck and scored.

Colorado dominated the puck in the middle period, but some combination of the Avs’ struggles handling the puck or Washington recovering from turnovers well kept it from looking like a vintage 20 minutes. The Avs only had 20 shot attempts in the period and six scoring chances, , about a third less than they might typically produce in a one-way traffic kind of period.

“It was a little bit choppier,” Nelson said. “The intention was the same as the last couple games, but it just didn’t look like it. Not all of them are going to be like that, so we had to find a way to adapt and maybe just muck it up a little bit more. I thought we did that as the game went on, and we started to control it a little bit more.”

Colorado scored twice with the man advantage Friday night and overwhelmed the Chicago Blackhawks in a 4-1 victory at United Center that would have been far worse were it not for some stellar work by goaltender Arvid Söderblom. With the win, the Avalanche reached 100 points became the .

Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas had three points each, and the Avs outshot the Blackhawks 49-20. Necas and Nazem Kadri scored on the power play.

“I feel like it’s an attack mindset,” Avs forward Brock Nelson said. “First couple, I think we did a really good job of just executing, bringing the puck to the net. … Just getting guys in the right spot and continuing to attack over and over and not getting stuck in the process.”

The Avs went into the break for the 2026 Winter Olympics with the worst power play in the league at 15.1%. Colorado is now 9-for-32 (28.2%) in March and 10-for-42 (23.8%) since the hiatus.

This was just a one-goal game after two periods, before Kadri’s power-play goal 36 seconds into the third and a Valeri Nichushkin insurance tally at 8:34.

The Avs worked on the exact play Kadri scored on — Necas sending the puck to MacKinnon near the net before he shoveled it across to Kadri in the right circle — during the morning skate.

“You watch a little video, (see) different tendencies and try to find a way to exploit it,” Nelson said. “Then just be prepared for those scenarios. … I mean, that was perfect execution on that goal. It was sweet.”

Colorado looked like the team that played a great hockey game two nights in the first period, and the opponent … did not look like the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche controlled the opening period, pretty much from the opening shift.

The Avs had 20 shots on goal, 32 shot attempts and 19 scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Blackhawks had five shots on goal, just 12 shot attempts and six scoring chances.

Necas put the Avs in front at 13:19 of the first. MacKinnon got the puck to Nichushkin, who went right to the net but laid it off to Necas in the left circle for a one-timer that went off Chicago goalie Arvid Söderblom’s shoulder and across the goal line.

It was Necas’ 32nd goal of the year. MacKinnon collected point No. 112 on the play, which is now his third-most in a season, four shy of his second-best set last season.

Colorado had only one shot attempt on the power play in the first period, because it went in. Cale Makar faked a slap shot from the top of the zone, then slipped a pass to Nelson in the slot. He redirected it past Söderblom at 15:22 for his 31st goal of the year.

The Avs dominated most of the second period as well, but a strange sequence led to a Chicago goal. Colorado’s fourth line was near the end of what had been a great shift, but Gavin Brindley tried to leave the puck for a defenseman and head to the bench for a change.

The problem was that there wasn’t a defenseman waiting for it. The Blackhawks collected it and started a 2-on-1, which led to a shot off the left post behind Mackenzie Blackwood. Just as that line sent the puck towards the other end and did get off the ice, Chicago defenseman Sam Rinzel snapped it back the other way.

His partner Wyatt Kiser got behind the Avs, took a saucer pass from Ryan Greene and tucked one past Blackwood at 6:48 of the middle period.

“I think the process, besides that Pittsburgh game, has been good,” Avs forward Parker Kelly said. “I think against Dallas and this game tonight is just really everyone firing on all cylinders. You can see the chemistry building. It’s going to get better with the guys coming back into the lineup here in the next few days.”

FOOTNOTE: Gabe Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Logan O’Connor and Ross Colton all skated Friday morning. Bednar said at least one of them could be ready Sunday against Washington, while all of them could play by the end of this four-game road trip.