While acknowledging the Tampa Bay Lightning are showing why they are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers know the have only themselves to blame for going down 3-0 in the second round.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Despite regaining the edge in their second-round series, the Colorado Avalanche aren't satisfied.
Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots and the Avalanche beat the St.
Nathan MacKinnon saw a team that just couldn’t get up the ice with its customary speed. Couldn’t generate quality scoring chances. Couldn’t get in a flow.
That wasn't them.
“We were bad,” the Colorado forward acknowledged after a 4-1 loss to St.
DENVER (AP) — Between the new line combinations and wrinkles — using five forwards on a power play — there was one big-time constant for St. Louis: Jordan Binnington.
Sometimes, your top players aren’t at their peak and you still win.
Exhibit A: Colorado defenseman and Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar.
DENVER (AP) — Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog supervised his daughter’s soccer practices. Coach Jared Bednar did yardwork.
A few minutes after his New York Rangers moved on to the second round of the NHL playoffs by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gerard Gallant had not mentally moved on to what’s next.
“I don’t even know who we play,” Gallant said with a chuckle.
DENVER (AP) — The swelling around Colorado Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper's right eye has subsided a week after catching a stick blade through his mask. '
“I can see now,” he said with a laugh Sunday after practice.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues eliminated the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a mid-series goalie change and an unconventional lineup.
Now, the team heads to Colorado to face the top-seeded Avalanche in the second round.
DENVER (AP) — There’s one area Cale Makar still has plenty of room for growth — his playoff beard.
Even with a little bit of a head start, the Colorado Avalanche defenseman's rosy cheeks still shine through.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche are the first NHL team to advance to the second round this postseason, and the top-seeded team in the Western Conference is coming off simply a dominating performance.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche are happy they got a bit of a challenge before sweeping the Nashville Predators.
They actually had to rally for the first time in the first round.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:58 left, and the Colorado Avalanche became the first team to advance to the second round by finishing a sweep of the Nashville Predators 5-3 Monday night.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper will sit out Game 4 on Monday night with the Colorado goaltender's right eye still swollen from being poked by a stick through his mask.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Pavel Francouz, who made 18 saves in nearly 41 minutes coming off the bench in relief on Saturday, will start against Nashville.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Aaron Ekblad paused for almost 10 seconds to consider what the Florida Panthers need to do better to even their series against the Washington Capitals.
“I think there’s a lot of things that we could do better,” he said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche lost goalie Darcy Kuemper late in the first period. Their power play is so strong right now that's all they lost.
Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and the top-seeded Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 Saturday for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper hurt an eye after being struck in the face by a stick late in the first period of the Avalanche’s 7-3 win over Nashville on Saturday.
Coach Jared Bednar said after the victory that Kuemper was well and doing better even though the goalie didn’t return.
There was a 6-foot-4, 220-pound hole in the Washington lineup in Game 2 against the Florida Panthers.
Tom Wilson's injury is one of many around the NHL playoffs that could tip the balance of a series.
DENVER (AP) — Cale Makar sent a low liner through traffic and then quickly found himself surrounded by happy teammates.
Maybe the happiest of all was at the other end. After all, it was goaltender Darcy Kuemper’s 32nd birthday.
DENVER (AP) — The Nashville Predators will start goaltender Connor Ingram in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche.
Ingram replaced David Rittich during Game 1 after Rittich surrendered five first-period goals as Colorado cruised to a 7-2 win.
DENVER (AP) — Speedy Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon took his turn at the wheel “driving the bus.”
That's his description of top players buckling into the driver's seat and going full throttle this time of year to lead their team.
DENVER (AP) — The fast, scoring-spree start by Colorado led to some feistiness later on with Nashville. But through all those pushes and shoves, the Avalanche maintained their composure.
DENVER (AP) — Goaltender David Rittich will start Game 1 for the Nashville Predators with starter Juuse Saros sidelined by a lower-body injury.
DENVER (AP) — Darcy Kuemper's hockey card collection as a kid in Saskatoon, Canada, included plenty of his favorite player, Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.
The goaltender of the No.
DENVER (AP) — All-Star goaltender Juuse Saros of Nashville will miss the first two games of the first-round series with Colorado due to a left leg injury.
Saros was ruled out Monday by Predators coach John Hynes, who said a decision hasn't been made between backups David Rittich and Connor Ingram.
The path to the Stanley Cup is rarely a straight line. Sometimes it’s the direction a puck takes when it banks off the post and in — or out.
Four years ago, Artemi Panarin clanked a shot off the post late in regulation that could have put Columbus up three games to none in the first round against Washington.
In assessing the status of his Pacific Division champion Calgary Flames, coach Darryl Sutter may have at the same time aptly captured the unpredictable state of the entire Western Conference once the playoffs open on Monday.
It took until the final game on the final night of the NHL regular season to set the matchups for the first round of the playoffs.
Naturally, the battle for the Stanley Cup starts in less than 72 hours.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) —
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist and the Minnesota Wild clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs by beating the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 Friday night.
DENVER (AP) — Matt Duchene scored the lone goal of the shootout and David Rittich stopped all three attempts as the Nashville Predators rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 on Thursday night.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Spencer Knight stopped 27 shots for his second career shutout as the Florida Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Thursday night.
With the victory and Nashville’s 5-4 shootout win over Western Conference-leading Colorado (56-18-7), the Panthers (58-17-6) clinched their first Presidents' Trophy for the best record in the regular season and home ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th and 60th goals of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 on Tuesday night to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche met Tuesday morning to figure out what was suddenly ailing one of the top teams in the league.
Team leaders had their say. Coaches, too. The message sank in — whatever that exact message may have been.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin was injured, and the Washington Capitals missed a major opportunity to move up in the standings on Sunday by blowing a lead and losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs.