The dust hasn’t quite settled on the Colorado Avalanche's fantastic four-game sweep of the LA Kings in their first-round matchup of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Despite hanging tough, the Kings really had no chance against the powerhouse Avalanche. The series was mostly close through three games. However, Colorado finally busted the doors off the series in Game 4.
That situation prompted praise throughout the league. But one interesting source of praise came from the Kings’ head coach, DJ Smith. Following Game 4, the interim coach had nothing but good things to say about the Avalanche’s play.
In particular, Smith highlighted just how well the Avalanche defended in the series. That was different. As Smith described it, they lost to “a good hockey team.”
This really stuck out to me yesterday from DJ Smith's availability after Game 4
— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) April 27, 2026
Some extremely high praise for the Avs' game away from the puck. He mentions that most people talk about Colorado's offense, but that it's their defensive details that make them elite pic.twitter.com/A28R2NS2Uw
That’s a crucial point here. The Avalanche held the Kings in check, especially 5-on-5. MoneyPuck showed the Avalanche had 6.94 expected goals against 5-on-5. They gave up two. The other three goals the Avs gave up in the series came on the power play.
That’s something to keep an eye on. The Avalanche can’t afford to continue giving up power play goals, especially when facing a good team like the Dallas Stars or Minnesota Wild.
That said, the Avalanche stifled the Kings at full strength, while scoring the bulk of their goals at even strength. That situation becomes further compounded when looking at how many goals Colorado gave up per 60 at even strength: 0.61.
It seems that the key moving forward will be for the Avalanche to stay out of the penalty box. If they can do that, life could become extremely difficult for whoever Colorado plays in the second round.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait about a week, potentially, to see the Avalanche hit the ice again. The Dallas-Minnesota series looks earmarked to go the distance. If that’s the case, well, the Avalanche will get some much-needed rest.
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