The Colorado Avalanche can wrap up the series against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night. Doing so would ensure that they aren’t taking more work to get through to the Stanley Cup Final. Getting through to the Final in the least amount of games necessary is crucial.
Before their series against the WIld even began, the Avs had a week to get ready for their division opponent. That is because they took care of the Los Angeles Kings with ease.
That probably won’t be the case against whoever comes out of the Vegas Golden Knights-Anaheim Ducks series. That series continues on Thursday. Vegas had a 3-2 series lead, so it very well could conclude tomorrow.
The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens are tied 2-2 in their series. Their next game is Thursday as well. It appears that the NHL wants to start each series around the same date, so we could be waiting a little bit longer than fans hope if that series goes to seven games.
That would give the Avalanche a clear advantage, but it’s certianly possible the series gets wrapped up tomorrow, which would remove said advantage.
Colorado’s Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta are a bit banged up, and we’ll have to wait and see what their statuses are for Wednesday night’s game, but the longer the Avalanche can go without beginning their next series would be good news for the Avs’ injured players. Though the Avs were alright without their top-line winger in Lehkonen, having him in the lineup is a lot better for the team than not.
Colorado Avalanche’s choice in net going forward will be interesting
The Avalanche have started Mackenzie Blackwood in net for the past two games after Scott Wedgewood was involved in a high-scoring game (though Colorado won that game).
An indicator for who is going to start each game is to wait for reports about which goaltender leaves the ice sooner during morning skate/practice. Today, it was Mackenzie Blackwood.
Blackwood has been great for the past two games. He came in in replacement of Wedgewood on Saturday, with 32:27 of ice time, making 13 of 14 saves. On Monday, he started and put up a 21-save performance, with two goals against.
Word on the street appears to be that Wedgewood may have just needed some time to get his head on straight after the past three games in which he had allowed 11 goals against.
Colorado should take care of business on Wednesday night, but if that doesn’t happen, they’ll have to play at least one more against the Wild, which wouldn’t be the most ideal thing in the world.
However, the team has proven that they can win in many different situations, so we’ll see what shakes out.
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