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Playoff hockey has become something of a spring tradition in Colorado. In the franchise’s 30 years in Denver, the Avalanche have missed the postseason only eight times. This year’s squad, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, stitched together an NHL-best 55-16-11 record and a franchise-best 121 points in the regular season to cruise into the playoffs. Coach Jared Bednar’s team is once again considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and is chasing what would be the team’s second championship in the past five seasons and fourth overall.
After easily dispatching the Los Angeles Kings in four games and the Minnesota Wild in five (Game 5 highlights here, because we know you want need them), the Colorado Avalanche now face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, which begins Wednesday, May 20, with a 6 p.m. puck drop at Ball Arena. Vegas finished atop the Pacific Division and presents Colorado’s toughest test yet, but oddsmakers still favor the boys in burgundy (who open as heavy favorites at -260).
Should the Avs punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, they’d face the Montreal Canadiens or Carolina Hurricanes with hockey immortality on the line.
See the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket here.
1. The Avs have star power.
Most teams claim to have two of the best players in hockey. For the Avalanche, it’s literal.
With his blazing speed and video-game puck handling, Nathan MacKinnon led the NHL in goals (53) and finished third in assists (74) during the regular season, making him the betting favorite to win his second Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP in two years. Meanwhile, Cale Makar—widely considered the best blueliner in hockey—is once again a finalist for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the best defenseman in the NHL (Makar has already won it twice).
The Avs’ firepower doesn’t stop there. In his first full season in Colorado, forward Martin Nečas exploded for a career-high 100 points, tying for seventh in the NHL.
2. The Avs are incredibly easy to root for.
Led by MacKinnon, Makar, and Nečas, the Avs have been the NHL’s most entertaining team this season, averaging a league-best 3.63 goals per game during the regular season. After grinding out a pair of physical wins to open its first-round series sweep against the Los Angeles Kings, Colorado erupted offensively, scoring at least four goals in six of its next seven games—including an eye-popping nine goals in a series-opening win against the Wild.
But the Avs’ appeal goes beyond a highlight-reel offense—this is a team loaded with compelling narratives. After helping lead Colorado to the Stanley Cup in 2022, captain Gabriel Landeskog missed nearly three full seasons because of devastating knee injuries. His return has become one of hockey’s best comeback stories, with the winger contributing three goals and five assists through the Avs’ first nine postseason games.
Elsewhere, veteran defenseman Brent Burns continues to build one of the NHL’s great ironman streaks. In his first season with Colorado, Burns appeared in all 82 regular-season games, extending his consecutive-games-played streak to 1,007. He’s only the second player in NHL history to eclipse 1,000.
3. The Avs finally have elite goaltending.
For all their offensive firepower, Colorado’s Stanley Cup hopes in recent seasons were undermined by shaky goaltending. Last year, the team finished in the middle of the pack in goals allowed per game and near the bottom third of the league in save percentage.
This season, that weakness has become a major strength. After replacing Alexandar Georgiev through a series of trades in December 2024, the tandem of Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood has transformed Colorado’s D, helping the Avs finish first in the NHL in both goals-against average and save percentage during the regular season. Wedgewood, in particular, has been stellar between the pipes, leading the league with a 2.02 goals-against average and 92.1 save percentage.
Perhaps most impressively, the pairing—affectionately nicknamed “The Lumber Yard”—has embraced the shared workload. “I think what we’ve both found is you are walking on your path, but we can be side-by-side together,” Wedgewood told ESPN in April.
4. The Avs are fighting history.
Force of Nature vs. chess piece. pic.twitter.com/kvy3Cf1CEa
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 15, 2026
With 55 regulation wins and 121 points, the Avalanche captured the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded annually to the team with the league’s best regular-season record.
What sounds like an honor is actually more like a curse. None of the past 12 Presidents’ Trophy recipients have gone on to win the Stanley Cup—including Colorado’s loaded 2021 squad—and since 2002, only two teams that finished atop the regular-season standings secured hockey’s ultimate prize. In other words, dominating from October through April guarantees absolutely nothing in May and June. 😬
5. There’s pressure to finish the job.
When the Avs hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2022, the assumption around hockey was that it wouldn’t be a one-off. MacKinnon was only 26. Makar was 23. The roster was loaded with young talent—from Landeskog to Mikko Rantanen—and Colorado looked positioned to become the NHL’s next great dynasty.
Instead, the past few seasons have brought frustration. Despite remaining one of hockey’s elite teams, the Avalanche had failed to return to even the Western Conference Final since winning the Cup, suffering a string of early playoff exits, including two first-round eliminations.
As the Nuggets have shown since winning the NBA title in 2023, championship windows can close quickly. The Avalanche aren’t facing quite the same existential questions as their Ball Arena co-tenants, but opportunities like the one currently in front of them are fragile. For a core that already knows what it takes to win on hockey’s biggest stage, this postseason feels less like a chance—and more like an obligation.
