Here we go, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The No. 2 seed Avalanche take on the No. 7 Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday in the best-of-7 Western Conference opening round at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“We’re excited to get going,… captain Gabriel Landeskog said Tuesday. “We’ve had a few games leading up to this. Especially the St. Louis and Dallas games (2-1 and 4-0 wins, respectively) we were really happy with the way we played. Last game (4-3 overtime loss to Vegas) maybe not as much, but now in a seven-game series it will be more competitive, a different outlook seeing the same team every single night.
“Arizona’s a good team, no doubt,… he said. “We’ll have our hands full. We should definitely respect them.…
The biggest challenge playing against the defense-minded Coyotes: finding ways to get pucks behind goalie Darcy Kuemper. He was excellent in Arizona’s qualifying series against Nashville and has been close to impenetrable against the Avalanche with a 4-1-2 record in eight career games against them with three shutouts, a 1.80 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
Coach Jared Bednar on Tuesday said everyone is healthy and available to play, but he wouldn’t reveal his lineup, so we don’t know if Philipp Grubauer or Pavel Francouz will get the call. I think it will be Grubauer, who is 2-1-1 in his career against the Coyotes with a 2.74 GAA and .914 save percentage. He went 1-0-1 with a 2.45 GAA and .914 save percentage against St. Louis and Vegas in the round-robin games.
Francouz made 27 saves in the shutout against Dallas. He was in goal for both regular-season games against Arizona, a 3-2 overtime win and a 3-0 loss. He’s 1-2-0 against them in three career games with a 2.36 GAA and .930 save percentage.
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Here’s the schedule, all times MT, "Home" team in CAPS Altitude has waived the blackout for the first round, meaning fans in the Denver Metro area can watch all the games on the national networks.
Western Conference First Round
Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. -- ARIZONA Friday, noon -- ARIZONA Saturday, 1 p.m. -- Arizona Monday, 3:30 p.m. -- Arizona *Wed., Aug. 19, TBD -- ARIZONA *Fri., Aug. 21, TBD -- Arizona *Sun., Aug. 23, TBD -- ARIZONA * If necessary
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“They’re a pretty balanced team,… Bednar said of the Coyotes. “Their third and fourth lines find a way to contribute on the offensive side of things, they check hard throughout their lineup, they have a real strong identity, a tough, physical defending team. Highly competitive, great goaltending. This is a work-based team, plays the right way, very well coached. We’ll have to be prepared to work through the obstacles they put in our way.…
The Avalanche will need to keep an eye on forward Taylor Hall, who was acquired from New Jersey on Dec. 14 and plays on the top line with Christian Dvorak and Phil Kessel. Hall, who edged Nathan MacKinnon for the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2017-18, has 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 27 career games against them. He had 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games after the trade.
Former Avalanche forward Carl Soderberg had 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 70 games with six power-play goals.
"We've had a handful of experiences playing against them in the regular season the last couple years,… Erik Johnson said. “They are a stingy team, they don't give up a whole lot, but they can also score some goals. They are a four-line team -- everyone plays pretty equally. They have some 'D' that can contribute to the offense and their goalie has been playing really, really well. Top to bottom a solid team."
Projected lineup:
FORWARDS Vladislav Namestnikov -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Gabriel Landeskog -- Nazem Kadri -- Valeri Nichushkin Andre Burakovsky -- J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi Tyson Jost/ Matt Nieto -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Matt Calvert
DEFENSE Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Ian Cole -- Nikita Zadorov
GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Pavel Francouz