The Colorado Avalanche and its fans shouldn’t be nervous about the low-scoring series they’ve had so far against the Los Angeles Kings. Several predicaments lead to this thinking.

Obviously, the Avs haven’t played their dominant style as they did during the regular season. But so far, there shouldn’t be as many concerns as people have brought up.

The series lead

First and foremost, the Avalanche have the series lead. Not only do they have the series lead, but they’re already one game away from advancing to the second round.

For Colorado, it doesn’t matter how they get to 16 wins. Simply put, Mission 16W is off to a good start in getting towards the end goal. LA, despite its point total and place in the standings, was always going to be a tough matchup for Colorado. They had some similar issues in 2022 against the Nashville Predators in the first round, particularly in Game Two.

While the series lead doesn’t reflect that, the scores of the games do. LA was always going to make Colorado nervous, playing their shutdown game and slowing things down. Nonetheless, the Avs have done what they’ve needed to do so far, even if it hasn’t been the prettiest of games.

Defense wins championships

Defense has been the name of the game for both the Avs and the Kings. Two 2–1 games and a 4–2 Game Three have shown both teams being sturdy defensively to keep their teams in it and make the other nervous.

Particularly for Colorado, their best defense has come from Scott Wedgewood. He’s the first player in Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to win his first three career playoff starts and stood tall whenever the Avs faltered in front of him.


Cale Makar and Devon Toews have continued doing their thing. Brent Burns has also stepped up in a huge way so far. The big question will be the health of Josh Manson, who left Thursday’s Game Three with an upper-body injury and is still being evaluated.

Bottom six stepping up

Some guys in the bottom-six have also stepped up nicely. Joel Kiviranta played in the first two games and made a presence despite not getting on the scoresheet. Parker Kelly earned a promotion for a short time to the top-six to make an impact with his bottom-six play.

Perhaps the best player in the bottom-six, however, has been Logan O’Connor. He scored the game-winning goal in Game One after a great steal and shot. In addition, he played a part in forcing the short-handed goal, which won Game Three.


He’s stepped up nicely after missing tons of time and looked as though he hasn’t missed a beat. Shout-out to Nicolas Roy for his Game Two overtime winner, and he’s also been a solid performer in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Top six haven’t been as heavily relied on

In turn, the top-six haven’t been heavily relied on. The Kings’ defense has been good, shutting them down, but that’s where the bottom-six stepping up has been the difference for Colorado.

The best top-six player has been Gabriel Landeskog, who has fluctuated between the top-six and bottom-six throughout the postseason. Nonetheless, he has two big goals: a late-game-tying goal in Game Two and an early opener in Game Three.

Nathan MacKinnon only has one point in the series, as do Makar and Toews. Part of their struggles has been on the power play, which is 0-for-9 so far. Opponents have again shut them down and not heavily relied on them. Even then, the Avalanche have a dominant series lead.

However, these issues and concerns will certainly become an issue should the Avs advance to the next round. Both the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars would eat this team up for lunch if the scoring can’t be found.

Hence, it’s understandable to be nervous and concerned. But the matchup against LA was always going to be like this, and even then, Colorado has still dominated. Should they make up for their mistakes, the Avs will be cooking for the rest of the postseason.