Colorado Avalanche Fan Guide to the 2018 Playoffs’ Third Round
Colorado Avalanche fans may be back to re-aligning their allegiances as the Stanley Cup Playoffs move to the Conference Finals stage.
The general consensus among Colorado Avalanche fans is that the demise of the Nashville Predators’ Stanley Cup hopes was a good thing. (I also don’t think any of us are surprised by that weakness of Pekka Rinne‘s that led to his getting yanked twice in the Jets series.)
Well, as we keep hearing, history is in the making. The four teams who are challenging for the Stanley Cup are new to the stage dating back a decade-and-a-half. The Tampa Bay Lightning were the last of the four remaining teams to have won a Cup, doing so 14 years ago in 2004. They did, however, appear in the Finals in 2015, ultimately losing to the Chicago Blackhawks.
We all have our allegiances outside of the Colorado Avalanche. Heading into the semi-finals, let’s look at how the two matchups might play out.
Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. Washington Capitals (M1)
Colorado Avalanche
I’m still a fan of the Washington Capitals. I’m delighted that they finally took down their Moby Dick, the Pittsburgh Penguins, to enter the Conference Finals for the first time since 1998.
Unfortunately, the Lightning present a whole new problem for the Caps. They’ve lost twice to the Bolts since that last Conference Finals appearance. This season, though, they’ve been pretty evenly matched, with the Caps going 1-1-1.
A lot of the buzz concerning this series is about Alexander Ovechkin and other Caps forwards going up against a talented Tampa forward line that includes Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov — not to mention the very talented Victor Hedman on defense. However, we all know the playoffs come down to a hot goalie.
Andrei Vasilevsky has been in net for all 10 of Tampa’s playoff games, and he’s gone 8-2. His save percentage is an impressive .927 with a 2.20 goals against average.
Braden Holtby has played in 11 of Washington’s 12 playoff games because the Caps weirdly started Philipp Grubauer in the first two games, yanking him two-thirds of the way through the second. Holtby has gone 8-3 with an equally impressive .926 save percentage and 2.04 goals against average.
I’m hoping the Capitals can pull another series win out of their hats. I prefer them to the Lightning.
Schedule:
Friday, May 11, 6:00pm MT: Capitals @ Lightning | NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA Sports
Sunday, May 13, 6:00pm MT: Capitals @ Lightning | NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA Sports
Tuesday, May 15, 6:00pm MT: Lightning @ Capitals | NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA Sports
Thursday, May 17, 6:00pm MT: Lightning @ Capitals | NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVA Sports
*Saturday, May 19, 5:15pm MT: Capitals @ Lightning | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
*Monday, May 21, 6:00pm MT: Lightning @ Capitals | NBCSN, CBC, SN1, TVA Sports
*Wednesday, May 23, 6:00pm MT: Capitals @ Lightning | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN1
*If necessary
Winnipeg Jets (C2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P1)
Let’s face it — I don’t think too many Colorado Avalanche fans felt comfortable cheering for the Winnipeg Jets. We have too much history with our Central Division rivals. We just wanted our other rivals, the Preds, to lose. We may be a little annoyed by the upstart Knights, but it’s not the same.
Funnily enough, just like with the other series, were also evenly matched, with the Jets going 1-1-1 against the Knights.
I think what we’re going to see between these two teams is the heavy, mean game of the Jets against the heart-and-soul play of the Knights. Winnipeg and Vegas are both obnoxious, just in different ways.
I’m a big fan of Marc-Andre Fleury’s, and there’s no question he knows how to win a Stanley Cup, having done so with the Penguins three times already. And now that his former team has been knocked out of the playoffs, he might have just a little extra motivation.
Not that he’s needed it. He’s gone 8-2 in the Knights’ 10 playoff games with some truly remarkable statistics — .951 save percentage and 1.53 goals against average. Connor Hellebuyck isn’t a slacker, with his .927 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average. It’s just that Fleury is on another level.
Dammit, the Vegas Golden Knights social media is going to be insufferable when the team wins the Stanley Cup. Ah, well, it will be worth it to see a prince of a man like Fleury thumb his nose at his old team.
Saturday, May 12, 5 pm MT: Golden Knights @ Jets | NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
Monday, May 14, 6 pm MT: Golden Knights @ Jets| NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN
Wednesday, May 16, 7 pm MT: Jets @ Golden Knights | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN
Friday, May 18, 6 pm MT: Jets @ Golden Knights | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN1
*Sunday, May 20, 1 pm MT: Golden Knights @ Jets | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN
*Tuesday, May 22, 7 pm MT: Jets @ Golden Knights | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN1
*Thursday, May 24, 6 pm MT: Golden Knights @ Jets | NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, SN1
*If necessary
Next: Predictions for Round 2 of the Playoffs
We’re lucky to be in the stretch of time when we have a hockey game every night — and just one so we don’t have to keep flipping channels if we want to watch both. In any case, the action starts tonight when the Bolts host the Caps.