Deep, star-studded Avalanche reach the conference finals for 8th time since arriving in Denver
DENVER — Jared Bednar may have put it best after the Colorado Avalanche erased a three-goal deficit to win their series on an overtime tally by a defenseman who hadn’t scored since January and with a different team, no less. “That one was,” the coach said, “something. ” Something, indeed.
The Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final for the eighth time since relocating to Denver courtesy of a Brett Kulak goal in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5. It’s just the second time in the last nine playoff appearances the Avalanche have made it past the second round. On the other occasion, in 2022, the team went on capture the Stanley Cup championship.
With a team led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, it’s always a Cup-or-bust scenario. This team especially, given a regular season with captain Gabriel Landeskog on the ice, their depth — the Avalanche had 16 different players score in the Wild series — and the play of their stars. Stanley Cup favorite Among the preseason favorites, they led the NHL most of the regular season in capturing their fourth Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the best record.
Like Carolina, the Avalanche are rolling into the conference finals. The Hurricanes advanced with a pair of sweeps while the Avalanche required nine games, including a first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. As of Thursday, Colorado is a slight favorite over the Hurricanes to win the Cup.
Next up for Colorado is either Vegas or Anaheim. Colorado was 2-0-1 against both the Golden Knights and the Ducks in the regular season. Bednar understands the lofty expectations year in and out, given his talented roster.
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