3 Things to Watch: Kings at Avalanche, Game 1 of Western Conference 1st Round

(WC2) Los Angeles Kings at (C1) Colorado Avalanche

Western Conference First Round, Game 1

3 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNSC, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS2, SNP, SNW, SNO

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche are aiming for their second Stanley Cup since 2021-22, but the Los Angeles Kings are looking to play spoiler beginning with Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena on Sunday.

The Avalanche and Kings last played on March 2, a 4-2 win for Colorado. At that point, D.J. Smith was in his first game as Los Angeles’ interim coach after coach Jim Hiller was fired on March 1.

But Avalanche coach Jared Bednar is expecting a different Kings team now.

“They’re more dangerous offensively than they were before. I’m sure some of that is coached into the team and I also think the addition of a guy like (Artemi) Panarin, who has over a point a game since joining the team,” he said of the forward, who the Kings acquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4 and played his first game with Los Angeles on Feb. 25 following the 2026 Winter Olympic break. 

Panarin has 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 26 games with Los Angeles.

“The restructuring of their lines since that addition, (Adrian) Kempe, (Anze) Kopitar and Panarin together is a dangerous line. They have their guys slotted. They’ve been a stingy defensive team all year, but on the offensive side of things, since the Olympic break, last 10 games, maybe more, they become even more dangerous offensively. It’s a team that’s played really well since that change, since the break, since the addition of Panarin.”

The Kings, meanwhile, aren’t expecting much different from what the Avalanche have been all season.

“I mean, they won the Presidents’ Trophy (for the best regular-season record) for a reason. They have, how many Olympians on their team? And everybody’s picked them to win. That’s fine,” Smith said. “You have to manage when they really take over a game and limit that to shorter periods, rather than have it carry on shift after shift.

“Someone’s got to go out there, and have a good shift and stop it. And let’s be honest, we’re going to have to have some guys play outside their comfort zone. We’re going to have to have some guys outperform, maybe what they are and that’s what has to happen for teams to knock off a Presidents’ Trophy winner. You need a special performance by one, two, maybe three guys for two weeks, and we got guys in that room that can do it.”

Teams that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 series have an all-time series record of 535-252 (.680), including a 10-5 (.667) mark in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (6-2, .750 in 2025 Eastern and Western Conference First Rounds).

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 1:

1. Kadri, Manson back?

It certainly looks as if forward Nazem Kadri and defenseman Josh Manson are good to go for Game 1. At least each said he was ready after participating in practice on Saturday. 

“It feels great. That way you can work on your timing. Luckily for me, it wasn’t a lower-body issue,” Kadri, who missed five games with a finger injury, said. “I was on the ice a day or two after I got injured, so I was able to stay in condition, but nice to get some puck touches with the guys, for sure.”

Kadri, who the Avalanche acquired from the Calgary Flames on March 6, has nine points (four goals, five assists) in 16 games with Colorado. Manson, who missed the past three games with an undisclosed injury, has 31 points (five goals, 26 assists) in 79 games for the Avalanche.

2. Who’s in net?

This is a question for each team. The Avalanche have gone back and forth between Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood fairly consistently this season, so it’s truly a coin toss for Colorado. For the Kings, Darcy Kuemper has gotten most of the starts (50) but Anton Forsberg has been stronger down the stretch. He started six of the Kings’ final nine regular-season games and went 5-1-0 with a 1.48 goals-against average, .943 save percentage and one shutout. Decisions, decisions.

3. Slowing down the Avs

The Avalanche finished the regular season scoring an average of 3.63 goals per game, the best in the NHL. So how do you contain them?

“Well, you just stay above them, you don’t give them room,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “As a five-man unit, obviously individually too, but as a five-man unit, you just got to stay above them, hit them, run them. Not even a big hit necessarily, just rub them out, be in front of them, not give them space. And that frustrates any offensive player, doesn’t matter who it is, and so we got to do that.”

Kings projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere

Joel Armia -- Scott Laughton -- Jared Wright

Mathieu Joseph -- Samuel Helenius -- Jeff Malott

Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin -- Cody Ceci

Anton Forsberg

Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Alex Turcotte, Jacob Moverare, Taylor Ward, Andrei Kuzmenko

Injured: Kevin Fiala (fractured leg)

Avalanche projected lineup

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Parker Kelly-- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nazem Kadri -- Nicolas Roy

Joel Kiviranta -- Jack Drury -- Logan O’Connor

Brett Kulak -- Cale Makar

Devon Toews -- Sam Malinski

Josh Manson -- Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Ross Colton, Nick Blankenburg, Zakhar Bardakov

Injured: None

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. … Kings coach Smith said Malott (undisclosed), Turcotte (undisclosed), and Kuzmenko (meniscus) will all be available for the Western Conference First Round, but only Malott is expected to play in Game 1. … Colorado coach Bednar said he wouldn’t reveal lineup decisions, including the starting goaltender.

NHL.com independent correspondent Dan Greenspan contributed to this report.