As the Western Conference Final opens up in Denver on Tuesday, the narrative being discussed has been about a head-to-head matchup between two of the NHL’s best centers in Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, but this best-of-seven series has more dimensions to it.
The Avalanche can throw two lines that are top-line caliber with Landeskog/MacKinnon/Lehkonen and Rantanen/Kadri/Nichushkin that will provide matchup problems for Edmonton (especially if they pair McDavid and Draisaitl together), but against both Los Angeles and Calgary, the Oilers were able to get secondary scoring from Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evander Kane.
Defensively, the Avs would appear to have the advantage even with Sam Girard out for the season, with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Josh Manson eating up major minutes and youngster Bowen Byram stepping in for Girard. Evan Bouchard has grown and is playing a big role for Edmonton, but Darnell Nurse is not 100% and it will be tough for veterans Duncan Keith and Tyson Barrie to corral the Avs offense.
The key to any playoff series is goaltending and this series has two flawed veterans in Mike Smith and Darcy Kuemper. Smith gathered himself after letting in a goal from nearly 200 feet against the Flames and out-goaltended Jacob Markstrom for the rest of the series, while Kuemper gave away a clincher in Game 5 vs. St. Louis before the Avs eliminated the Blues in 6 games.
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