The Avs were great again. Wer.
Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and the rest of the very confident and composed Avalanche breeze in the second round of the playoffs of the Western Conference by beating Arizona 7-1, again, on Wednesday at Rogers Place. Colorado also won 7-1 in Game 4 on Monday, scoring seven goals in consecutive playoff games for the first time in team history. The Avs ’22 goals against Arizona also set a club record for a playoff series set in five games.
“Our time has come,” said MacKinnon, who extended his streak of playoff points to eight games. “We have not won anything, but it is a completely different feeling after winning this series. We are a hungry group. ”
MacKinnon and Kadri, the Avs’ top centers, scored two goals each Wednesday and five other Avs had multiple points in eliminating the Coyotes in five games. Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper, the Game 3 hero with 49 saves, was drawn after two periods for the second straight game, with Arizona under 6-0.
“We’re a group that really cares about each other,” MacKinnon added. “We feel really great chemistry and there is a good atmosphere for our team. So it’s great to get these playoffs on the right foot. We have played hard in all five games and we are ready for whoever we play in the second round. “
No. 2-seeded Colorado, who outscored the Coyotes 22-8 in the series, followed the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights in becoming the second team from the West to advance.
The Avs will face Dallas in the conference quarterfinals as the Stars defeat Calgary in Game 6 of that series Thursday. Colorado cow ek St. Louis of Vancouver play as the Flames come down against Dallas.
No team plays as well as the Avalanche, though, which is 6-1-1 overall in these playoffs.
“It’s unbelievable to watch,” said Avs goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, who finished 4-0 in the series and did not have much company on his end of the ice. ‘First game, second game, you watch those guys play at the other end. It’s the way we want to play and it’s been great to watch. I think we found our rhythm here and we need to make sure we move forward with the same commitment in the next round. ‘
The Avs scored three times in each of the first two periods. Similar to Game 4, they got off planes and put Arizona on their heels. The Coyotes took the first two penalties of the game and Colorado capitalized on both, with Kadri and defender Sam Girard putting pucks past Kuemper on the power play.
Kadri scored on a breakout late in the period because Colorado had the full momentum after the first period. In the second period, MacKinnon had a hand in all three goals, scoring the first two, the last on the power play.
The Avs would probably have floated the series if Kuemper had not been so stealthy in the Avs’ 51-shot attack in Game 3.
‘We stick to the game plan. Even though we lost Game 3, we came back to them and just kept our game going, “said Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, who had two assists on Wednesday.” We always said early in the series, ‘We’re going to them to wear. ‘ That was kind of our game plan and we stick to it. “
The Avs are likely to play with as much confidence as they did through the regular 70-game season. It’s Stanley Cup as a bust.
‘You have to be right. You have to be rewarded and you also have to be confident to make plays, “said Avalanche defender Nikita Zadorov, who scored the seventh goal in Game 5.” Our group, we are really confident. We are really ready for the playoffs – physically, mentally, both. ”
