Colorado Avalanche

How's this for an amazing statement: for the first time all season, the Colorado Avalanche will enter tonight's Game 1 against the Nashville Predators fully ...

I know a couple people who work there, and, trust me, all of the money goes to food and all of it gets eaten by people who need it. I also am very scrupulous about donating 5% of every dollar to the Thornton Food Bank. I will be making a nice-sized donation there later this week – and I put in money on top of yours, too. Altitude lifted the blackout, which they deserve a ton of credit for doing. I can promise you I am economical with things on the road – and so is Terry Frei (not as much as me, but, hey, nobody is). Even when I had a big, fat Denver Post corporate credit card to use on the road for 20 years there covering the Avs, I always parked in the economy lot at DIA, sometimes took SHUTTLE BUSES to save on cab/rental car fare, always stayed at the lowest Marriott rate I could find and ate a lot of cheap takeout. The Avs really have a lot of pressure on them. - OK, I have more people to thank here, for donating to the Avs Travel Tip Jar. They are: John Hayes, Louis Dunaway, David McKinnis, David Koenst, Adam Hunter, Myles Edwards and Kenton Murphy. They have all contributed in the last 24 hours, and I can’t express enough my gratitude.

Without their starting goaltender Juuse Saros, the Colorado attack will be too much for the Predators to handle.

With Saros out, the Predators will now need a below-average goaltender to keep Nashville in the game against one of the league’s most dynamic attacks. Any team can win on any night in hockey, but asking Nashville to do it over and over again is a bit outlandish. With Saros out, the only real argument that you can make for the Predators in this series is that they get incredibly lucky.

The Avalanche welcome the return of their captain Gabriel Landeskog and will have a fully healthy lineup for the first time in quite some time. That should bode ...

This will be the first time these two clubs have met in the playoffs since Matt Duchene was traded to the Nashville Predators by the Colorado Avalanche. That story will likely be a theme that national and local broadcasts run with. That likely means the Predators are going with David Rittich in the net this evening. That and the goaltending situation for Nashville. The Predators will be without their starting netminder Juuse Saros who will miss at least the first two games of this first-round matchup.

The Colorado Avalanche kick off another quest for the Stanley Cup Tuesday at Ball Arena as they host the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the first-round ...

- Game 7 (if necessary) in Denver – May 15, TBD - Game 6 (if necessary) in Nashville – May 13, TBD - Game 5 (if necessary) in Denver – May 11, TBD The series will feature what many think are the two top defenseman in Colorado’s Cale Makar and Nashville’s Roman Josi, one of whom will likely win the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman this year. - Game 2 in Denver – May 5 at 7:30 p.m. MT on TNT Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper won a career-high 37 games this year, but went 0-0-2 against Nashville.

Game 1 was a jaw-dropping reminder how good a healthy Avalanche team really is, Paul Klee writes.

I missed the goal from up in the press box because I was counting up Makar’s points in the first period (three), Mikko Rantanen’s assists (three), MacKinnon goals (two) and wondering why Russell Wilson skipped the best show in town. Not the first time for the Avalanche. The first time for anybody. This was how you jumpstart a real Cup run. This was a show to remember. But maybe Flames coach Darryl Sutter was on to something when he evaluated the Avs this way: “If you are a wild card team I sure as hell don’t want to play Colorado in the first round. The Avs are good as gold when they’re ahead. A couple years ago when the Avs lost to the Preds in a playoff series, I was crushing some of that delicious barbecue with good buddy Mark Kiszla in one of those country bars. A much younger person asked if we were in a band. It was a jaw-dropping reminder how good a healthy Avs team really is. What’s scary from a Nashville perspective is that its starting goalie didn’t make it out of the first period of Game 1. In the first 10 minutes of the series, the Avs scored at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded — the first time that’s happened in the playoffs. Gas prices being what they are, maybe the NHL can skip the pricey flights back to Nashville. You know, save a few bucks.

Rittich to start for Nashville; Landeskog returns for Colorado ; Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche -- each a top ...

"It's the trips," Hynes said. ... Landeskog was out the last 23 games of the regular season. ... Saros missed the last two games of the regular season. "It's the holds. "We trust him and believe in him," Hynes said. Colorado went 5-for-17 on the power play (29.4 percent). "We were maybe looking ahead a little bit too much [to the playoffs], but we're all very confident in our games," Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper said. Makar, the Norris runner-up last season, led NHL defensemen in goals (28) this season. "Personally, I watch a lot of him throughout the year," Makar said. He's an outstanding player, and he's definitely the drive for their team." "I love playing against him," Josi said. He was second in goals (23).

The Colorado Avalanche executed an assertive 7-2 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the First Round Series of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs ...

Duchene scored his second of the night to trim Nashville's deficit down 7-2 as he executed a backhand-to-forehand move and lofted his shot over Kuemper's glove at 12:26. MacKinnon unleashed his long-range slap shot past Ingram for his second goal of the game at 6:03 to put Colorado up 7-1. Lehkonen walked in and fired off a quick shot short side of Rittich to end his night between the pipes. While the play leveled out on both sides in the second period, intensities heightened. The defenseman jetted up the ice, drove to the net and beat Rittich far side and past his stick. Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves on 25 shots in the victory.

Goals rained like manna from heaven during a 7-2 Avalanche playoff victory over Matt Duchene and the Nashville Pussycats. When not celebrating the lamp being ...

Duchene scored twice, including a meaningless goal in the third period while the crowd was roaring: “Duchene sucks!” The Pussycats huffed and puffed out their chests and tried to intimidate, bless their ever-loving hearts. It was an avalanche of yummy goodness, or in a nod to the candy that made Music City famous, a GooGoo Cluster of goals. But let’s cut to the quick: Dutchy had his feelings hurt because he was stuck on the dark side of MacKinnon’s rising stardom. These are not the Avs that Duchene bailed on. You have to be able to push back. “Dutchy is a good person.

Hope in Smashville, at this point, seems akin to waiting for a miracle or a healthy Juuse Saros, whichever comes first. And neither was close Tuesday.

To put that another way: “There has not been a more lopsided series in the analytics era,” wrote Dom Luszcyszyn and Shayna Goldman of The Athletic. Rittich – tapped to start in place of Ingram – was a disaster, allowing five goals on 13 shots. With the Avalanche shorthanded, Andrew Cogliano stole the puck near two Predators defenders, got behind Ekholm and ended up being able to take two swings at it to beat Rittich, who’d watch two more get past him before being benched. They then scored shorthanded when the Predators were on their first power play. From the first few moments, it was destined to be little more than a top-seeded contender skating circles around a hopeless underdog. They scored on the power play.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had a 100% healthy team and scratched a great deal of grit and size to his lineup for Game 1 -- a 7-2 blowout win over the ...

… The Avs played so well in Game 1, Bednar canceled Wednesday’s practice and will only have a morning skate ahead of Thursday’s Game 2. We never backed down, but at the same time, we’re trying to play between the whistles and trying to stay disciplined, stay out of the box. “You play with the physicality that’s required to win the game,” Bednar added. “No team wants to get blown out, whether it’s at home or on the road, and if you don’t get the results, if it’s not going your way, then you try to impact the game in a different way. “It’s expected,” Bednar said of the Preds’ style. They were bound to play in this series against the NHL’s most penalized team.