Avalanche embracing underdog role entering playoffs

DENVER -- The locker room was still abuzz when questions about the Stanley Cup Playoffs began for the Colorado Avalanche.
They finished the regular season with their
5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues
, securing the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference and a first-round series against the Nashville Predators. Now they must deal with those Predators (53-18-11, 117 points), who won the Presidents' Trophy, dominated the second half of the season and defeated the Avalanche four times.

The Avalanche (43-30-9, 95 points) know they're a long shot against a Predators team that's deep and coming off a Stanley Cup Final appearance. But they are brimming with confidence after their surprise season, and they'll bring that into the series.
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"We're playing with house money right now, to be honest," center Nathan MacKinnon said. "I don't think we have any pressure on us. We're just going to play our game play free and be aggressive, and hopefully we can steal one."
The Avalanche got one point in four games against the Predators, a 4-3 overtime loss on March 4. They lost the other three games 4-1, 5-2 and 4-2. But goaltender Jonathan Bernier isn't looking at those games for a glimpse of what could happen in the playoffs.

"I think it's a new season for everybody," he said. "I played against them last year [with the Anaheim Ducks] and it's a tough building to play in. We skate, we're a young team, a fast team, and we just have to play with our edge and see what can happen."
Defenseman Tyson Barrie said, "Obviously the [Predators] are a great team, but it's the playoffs. You have seven games. We're a good team, too. We're going to embrace the underdog role and we'll throw everything we can at them."
The Avalanche weren't expected to be this good. They weren't expected to make the playoffs. It's a big challenge but so was getting to this point.
"Our guys are hungry," coach Jared Bednar said. "They want to win, I think they believe if we play like we did tonight that we can win. And I believe that. We're not done by any means.
"I think it's good to be labeled a success, for sure, especially when you go through a tough season last year. There are times when you doubt yourself and you have to bounce back and respond, and we've done that. It may relieve a little pressure on some of our guys and we can afford to continue to play the right way but still be loose and hopefully put Nashville under some pressure."