The Avalanche was the eighth seed in the Western Conference and was facing a club that had a 50-25-7 record and 107 points during the regular season, the second most in the league. With the Columbus Blue Jackets' four-game sweep of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the East, it marked the first time in NHL history that the No. 8-seeded teams in each conference eliminated the top seed in the first round.
"The resiliency we have on our team, the fight that we have when we're down, huge," said goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who made 28-of-29 saves. "Guys stepping up in the right moment, scoring goals, getting blocks, getting saves at the right time. It all combines into a great performance."
Calgary won each of the three games of the regular-season series, but two of the games were decided by one goal and one needed overtime to decide a winner.
"I think it speaks to the parity in this league," said veteran defenseman Ian Cole, a two-time Stanley Cup champion. "We felt pretty confident coming into this series that we could get the job done. We didn't have success record-wise against them during the season, but we felt good about our games and we felt good about the matchup and personnel-wise. Like you saw out there, I think we did a good job with it. I think everyone is happy and ready to turn the page after tonight and get back to it."
Much like the Avalanche did in its 6-2 victory in Game 3, the team had a strong first period. Colorado scored the first two goals and then added two more in the second period to extend its advantage.
"People say that it is hard to close out the series, especially when it is 3-1. I think it was a great team effort again," Rantanen said. "We got an early lead right away and then we finished it off."