Four years in a row, the LA Kings have faced off against the Edmonton Oilers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, never advancing past McDavid. The Kings' prayers for a new first-round opponent were finally answered. They matched up with the Colorado Avalanche, proving the accuracy of the cliche, “careful what you wish for.” The Avs made quick work of the Kings and managed to get ahead of their spring cleaning with a series sweep–a feat the Oilers never managed in their respective beatdowns against Los Angeles.
While the Avs swept the Kings, each contest was a hard-fought battle. After a close 2-1 win in Game 1, Game 2 felt even tighter. With an already late start and a delay due to a boisterous fan shattering the glass behind Kings’ coach DJ Smith (following a sensational penalty shot save by Scott Wedgewood), we were poised for an even later night. The Kings got on the board first late in the third period, but Landeskog scored less than four minutes later to send the game into overtime. It was the only time the Kings led in the entire series. As the clock ticked towards midnight, trade-deadline acquisition Nick Roy put one past Forsberg to give the Avs the victory and take a 2-0 series lead.
The Avs then traveled to LA, but the City of Angels couldn’t save the Kings, and even without a goal from their top scorers, the Avs won Game 3, 4-2. The dam finally broke in Game 4 with a power play goal from MacKinnon and an eventual 5-1 win to close out the Kings.
In doing so, the long-time King, Anze Kopitar, skated his last NHL shift, having announced his retirement at the start of the season. The two-time Stanley Cup Champion got to say goodbye on home ice in front of the fans that have been cheering him on for two decades. The final minutes of the game weren’t about the Avs advancing but saluting a legend of the game.
Unfortunately for the Kings, their King wasn’t enough to push them to another game. The Kings forced the Avs to play a hard, gritty, and physical game; a type of game that they would have struggled breaking through in previous years. But the Avs stuck to their discipline and mature mentality, allowing them to skate to their identity and not collapse into the chaos the Kings tried to force. The Avs didn’t light up the scoreboard like they usually do, thanks to strong netminding by Anton Forsberg, but Scott Wedgewood superseded him, allowing only five goals in four games.
The Avs did what they needed to do in every game and showed that they can win in any situation. MacKinnon doesn’t score: no biggie, the fourth line can. Hot goaltending: ours is better. Physical game: have you met Burns and Mason? Trailing late in the game: put our captain on the ice. The Avs are stacked from the line to line, and down to goaltending, which is something we haven’t always been able to count on.
We now await the winner of the Stars vs. Wild series, with the only outcome we’d care about is that both teams get banged up and the winner enters the second round, tired. But speaking of tired, not only can the Avs get a few days off, so can we. Playoff hockey is intense, even when you’re winning, and I, for one, will welcome a couple of early nights in preparation for the next round, which will undoubtedly be against our toughest competitors in the west.
However, whoever the opponent is, they will be coming to the Mile High City to start Game 1; let’s make them feel their lungs from the drop of the puck and see how long they last.