Colorado Avalanche are Advancing to the Second Round!

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 5-1 to advance to the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche are advancing to the second round! I know that’s the title of the post, but it bears repeating because the Avs beat the Flames 4-1 in the series to advance! This is the first time since 2008 that Colorado has advanced past the first round.

The reality of the situation hasn’t sunk in except I just heard our superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, just admit he hadn’t won a round yet in the NHL. It’s true, and I knew it. But I remember so clearly 18-year-old Nate looking up with hollow eyes after the Avalanche lost Game 7 against the (hated) Minnesota Wild.

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Ok, it’s sinking in, and I’m not in the mood to analyze why they won. The stars aligned. But I am going to make some observations of what I noticed in this series.

The speed is there. Yes, the Colorado Avalanche are renowned for being a fast team. Our star, MacK, is one of the fastest players in the NHL. But the Calgary Flaems are also known for their speed.

Honestly, I think it goes beyond MacKinnon here. It was our X-factor, rookie Cale Maker. He made his debut in Game 3, and, what they hey, he can keep up with MacK. What? That’s right, he may not be as fast as Nate, but he can get there when he needs to in order to complement MacKinnon’s play.
That’s a dynamic duo. A young, dynamic duo. Our 20-year-old rookie and 23-year-old star.

By the way, Cale is phonetically the same as kale, and some of us can ‘t handle that:

Kale for Cale Makar! 😂

(🎥: @RyanKoenigsberg)
pic.twitter.com/r3leGyv4KW
— theScore (@theScore) April 18, 2019

Guess the Kale will need to keep coming out a little longer. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/szoVeOUnXW
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2019

Anyway, I’m also going to give props to our shut-down and two-way defensemen. Johnny Gaudreau is also known as one of the fastest players in the game. However, the likes of Erik Johnson, Nikita Zadorov, Ian Cole, and Patrik Nemeth shut him down.

Now, let’s talk about Philipp Grubauer. Actually, let’s not talk about Grubi — let’s look at him:

Like, what even is that? He’s just casually doing some jazzercise and his leg happens to block a shot? No, really, that’s the kind of save you remember forever. Of course, in typical hockey fashion, Grubauer was modest about the save, stating that he was “just guessing” about where the puck was going.

Ok, top line. Our captain, Gabriel Landeskog, didn’t have the points you might want to see from him — 1 goal and 3 assists. But no question he was the spiritual leader laying out the unfaithful with 20 hits. I’ve said it since last postseason — Gabe is built for the playoffs.

In all, though, the top line showed dominance:

Nathan MacKinnon: 3 goals, 5 assists
Mikko Rantanen: 5 goals, 4 assists
Gabriel Landeskog: 1 goal, 3 assists
Tyson Barrie: 5 assists

What’s great about this series win is that everyone on the ice was contributing. I mean, this was a team that saw Long Beach Native Matthew Nieto score 2 goals and 2 assists.

So, the Colorado Avalanche, who slid into the playoffs as the eighth seed, topped the first-seed Calgary Flames, who happened to win the Western Conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets also beat the Eastern Conference — and Presidents’ Trophy winner — Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s the first time in NHL history that the eighth-seeded team in each conference has beaten the conference champion.

The most storied tradition in all sports, the handshake line:

Defenseman Nikita Zadorov led the handshake line. He did so last year, too. In 2014, it was Erik Johnson.

The Colorado Avalanche are awaiting the winners of the San Jose Sharks – Vegas Golden Knights series. Vegas leads the series 3-2, and that’s fine by me. The Knights aren’t an easy opponent by any stretch, but the Sharks are a nightmare.

Anyway, as the captain of the blueline, EJ, would say, we’re playing with house money.