(1C) Colorado Avalanche Vs. (2P) Edmonton Oilers
Allau: 56-19-7 (119 points), they defeated the Nashville Predators 4-0 in the first round, the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in the second round
Oilers: 49-27-6 (104 points), defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in the first round, Calgary Flames 4-1 in the second round
Seasonal series: COL 2-1-0; EDM 1-0-2
Game 1: Tuesday (20:00 ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS)
Two of the best NHL players in the Colorado Avalanche, striker Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton Oilers striker Connor McDavid will face off when their teams meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Finals.
This will be the third time Colorado and Edmonton have faced each other in the postseason. The Avalanche won five games in the 1997 conference semifinals, and the Oilers won seven games in the quarterfinals of the conference the following season.
Colorado has played in the conference finals for the first time since 2002, when it lost in seven games to the Detroit Red Wings. Edmonton play the conference final for the first time since 2006, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup final before losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Colorado was led in the regular season by MacKinnon, who scored five points (three goals, two assists) in all three games against Edmonton. Darcy Kuemper started each game and went 2-1-0 with an average of 2.62 goals against and a .921 savings percentage.
Oilers defender Tyson Barrie, who played his first eight seasons in the NHL with the Avalanche from 2011 to 2019, knows what makes MacKinnon special.
“Getting to play with him and his work ethic and the way he prepares and treats his body reminds me a lot [McDavid]”They’re on top of their game and they’re taking care to make sure they’re on top of their game,” Barrie said. From a game standpoint, you’re looking like us. He is a powerful and skilled player who can do anything. It will be a handful, but nothing we can handle. “
Edmonton was led by striker Evander Kane, who scored five points (four goals, one assist) in all three regular-season games against Colorado. McDavid (four assists) and Leon Draisaitl (two assists) combined for six points, but did not score a goal.
Mike Smith started two games against Colorado, 1-0-1 with a GAA of 2.99 and a savings percentage of 0.912. Mikko Koskinen made 33 stops in his only outing, a 2-1 defeat in the penalty shootout on April 9th.
Avalanche defender Erik Johnson said he believes practicing against MacKinnon will help them against McDavid.
“Sometimes we run a lot of races against Nate in training and you say, ‘Wow, that’s what it feels like. It’s a handful,'” Johnson said. “They will always make plays and find ways to generate chances, how many will you let them have and how many will they generate? But it certainly helps. When you go against the best, sometimes it makes it a little easier in games.”
Break the game
Allau: MacKinnon was controlled by the Blues for most of his second-round series, but he reminded everyone in Game 5 how dangerous he is. MacKinnon finished with four points in that game, including his second playoff hat-trick of his career. MacKinnon has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 10 playoff games, which is tied with Cale Makar for Avalanche’s lead.
Oilers: It’s a bit of a showdown between McDavid and Draisaitl, who each have seven goals and 19 assists in 12 playoff games. Draisaitl finished with 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in five games against the Flames, and McDavid scored 12 points (three goals, nine assists), including the series goal in overtime in Game 5. So in Instead of choosing just one, Colorado should be aware of both at all times.
Video: STL @ COL, Gm5: MacKinnon’s 2nd playoff hat trick
Goal
Allau: Kuemper missed Game 4 of the first round against the Predators after suffering an eye injury at the end of the first period of Game 3, but was able to return to the Blues and start every game in that series. Kuemper has had some ups and downs this postseason, but is 6-2 with a GAA of 2.44 and a savings rate of 0.904. Pavel Francouz, who replaced Kuemper against Nashville, is 2-0 with a GAA of 2.97 and a savings rate of 0.902.
Oilers: Smith has started every game this postseason, 8-3 with a GAA of 2.70, a savings percentage of 0.927 and two whites. The 40-year-old finished strong against Calgary in the second round after being replaced early in the first game by Koskinen, who allowed five goals in 37 shots.
Numbers to know
Allau: 34.5. Percentage of power-play in the Colorado playoffs, the best in the NHL. The Avalanche is 10 of 29 with the man’s lead, picking up where they left off in the regular season, when they finished seventh in the NHL with 24 percent.
Oilers: 4.33. Goals per game in the Edmonton playoffs, the best in the NHL. The Oilers have scored at least four goals in eight of their 12 games, and at least five goals in six.
[RELATED: Complete Avalanche vs. Oilers series coverage]
X factors
Allau: Makar. He may have only made three assists against the Blues, but whether or not he ends up on the scoreboard, the defender can always make things happen. Makar leads the Avalanche in ice time per game in the playoffs (26:42), and is a critical piece in both the power play and the penalty shootout.
Oilers: Kane didn’t come in this postseason with a lot of experience in the playoffs, but that didn’t matter. The striker has been outstanding for the Oilers, leading the team with 12 goals and a shooting rate of 23.5. His 15 points are also third behind McDavid and Draisaitl.
Video: CGY @ EDM, Gm3: Kane records hat trick at 6:00
They said so
“Playing in Edmonton all year, they have a very tight structure [Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft] there. Therefore, it is a difficult team to play. They don’t give you much, and are committed to both sides of the record, despite the narrative around this team. Obviously this is probably changing now, but it is a very difficult team to play against. It will be a full team effort to shut down these guys. We also need to stay out of the box, but we are safe. We believe that if we play our best, we can play against anyone. ” Avalanche striker Nathan MacKinnon
“I think we’ve played well in Colorado all year. They have some natural talents, we have some natural talents, and certainly as we move forward in this series, there will be some moments, but we’ll have good times. some things to try to prepare our team for this level of speed and skill that will be on the ice “. – Jay Woodcroft, Oilers coach
Will win if …
Allau: They can get more depth score. Everyone knows what to expect from MacKinnon, Makar, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, but when it mattered most in the sixth game against the Blues, the Avalanche scored two goals from JT Compher while fourth-line striker Darren Helm scored. goal of the series with 5.6 seconds left. If Colorado regains that production, it will advance to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 2001.
Oilers: If Smith is at his best. He faced a powerful offensive in the Flames in the second round, and the Avalanche will face the same challenge. Smith can’t afford a soft goal if the Oilers want to advance to the Cup final for the first time since 2006.
How they look
Projected alignment of avalanches
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Artturi Lehkonen
Valeri Nichushkin – Nazem Kadri – Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky – JT Compher – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Andrew Cogliano – Darren Helm – Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson
Bowen Byram – Erik Johnson
Darcy Kuemper
Pavel Francouz
Scraped: Nico Sturm, Alex Newhook, Ryan Murray, Kurtis MacDermid, Trent Miner
Injured: Samuel Girard (sternum)
Projected lineup of Oilers
Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl
Zach Hyman – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jesse Puljujarvi
Warren Foegele – Ryan McLeod – Kailer Yamamoto
Josh Archibald – Derek Ryan – Zack Kassian
Nurse Darnell – Cody Ceci
Duncan Keith – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Tyson Barrie
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scraped: Philip Broberg, Devin Shore, Derick Brassard, Kris Russell
Injured: Cap