The Colorado Avalanche begin their quest for their fourth Stanley Cup Championship tonight when they take on the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre for Game One of the opening round. The matchup represents the Central Division's No. 3 seed Avalanche matched up with the division's No. 2 seed in Winnipeg. Game One's puck drop between the Avalanche and Jets is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. MT/6:10 p.m. CT and will be broadcast locally on Altitude TV and nationally on ESPN2.
Latest Results: April 18, 2024 | COL: 5, EDM: 1
April 18, 2024 | WPG: 4, VAN: 2
ROUND ONE SCHEDULE VERSUS JETS
- April 21 at Winnipeg - Game One, 5:10 p.m. MT/6:10 p.m. CT (ALT, ESPN2)
- April 23 at Winnipeg - Game Two, 7:30 p.m. MT/8:30 p.m. CT (ALT, ESPN)
- April 26 vs. Winnipeg - Game Three, 8 p.m. MT/9 p.m. CT (ALT, TNT, TruTV, Max)
- April 28 vs. Winnipeg - Game Four, 12:30 p.m. MT/1:30 p.m. CT (ALT, TNT, TruTV, Max)
- April 30 at Winnipeg - Game Five*, TBD
- May 2 vs. Winnipeg - Game Six*, TBD
- May 4 at Winnipeg - Game Seven*, TBD
*If necessary
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VERSUS JETS
- Dec. 7 vs. Winnipeg (L, 4-2)
- Dec. 16 at Winnipeg (L, 6-2)
- April 13 vs. Winnipeg (L, 7-0)
THREE HARD LAPS
-The Avalanche tonight embark on their 29th postseason run in franchise history and the team's 20th since relocating to Denver. 2023-24 also marks the seventh consecutive season the club qualified for the playoffs. The franchise is 33-18 all-time in Game 1s and is 9-10 in road Game 1s. The last time the Avalanche began a Stanley Cup Playoff series on the road was the 2019 Second Round.
-Nathan MacKinnon begins his eighth playoff run in his NHL career, entering tonight with an even 100 points (44g/56a) in 77 games. The 1.30 points per game ranks third in NHL history among skaters who have suited up in at least 50 playoff contests, following Wayne Gretzky (1.84) and Mario Lemieux (1.61). MacKinnon's next point will mark the 1,000th he's tallied between both regular season and postseason play.
-Cale Makar enters tonight with a 16g/49a career playoff scoring line in 61 games played. The 25-year-old already holds the Avalanche/Nordiques record for most assists among defensemen and shares the points record with Sandis Ozolinsh. Makar also sits two goals shy of Ozolinsh for the franchise's defensemen goals record.
HISTORY
This first-round matchup is the first time the Avalanche have squared off with the Jets/Thrashers franchise in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Nordiques never played the previous iteration of the Winnipeg Jets, making this the franchise's first playoff game in Manitoba. The Avalanche/Nordiques franchise holds a 15-10 series record when facing an opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time.
LAST GAME MELODY
The Avalanche beat the Oilers 5-1 on Thursday night at Ball Arena to wrap up the regular season. The hosts came out firing with a season-high four first-period goals, two of which came from Valeri Nichushkin. Nathan MacKinnon assisted on Colorado's second and third goals to break the single-season franchise record for most points in a season with 140. Edmonton got on the board late in the opening period with a power-play marker from Dylan Holloway. Zach Parise widened the lead to 5-1 with the game's final goal midway through the second period. Justus Annunen finished with 25 saves.
Winnipeg also recorded a win on its Game 82 with a 4-2 triumph over the visiting Canucks. Vancouver drew first blood when Dakota Joshua sent the puck cross-crease off of Conor Garland and in. Gabriel Vilardi knotted the game at one midway through the first period, and Cole Perfetti put the Jets on top 55 seconds into the second period. Vancouver notched the equalizer on the power play with under three minutes to go in the second period, but Nikita Chibrikov registered his first goal of the season in what would go down as the game-winner. Perfetti netted his second goal of the night later on with an empty-net marker.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“I like where we’re at. This week’s work breaking down some of our issues here recently, some of the steps we’ve taken in the Minnesota game early in the Dallas game, early in tonight’s game - certainly we’re gonna have to extend that for a full 60 minutes like we did against Minnesota - but a lot of hard work, video work, and practice the last couple of days does us good. Guys are mentally in a good spot.”
- Colorado Head Coach Jared Bednar on the State of the Avs Heading into Playoffs.
