Thanks, Montreal. You’ve made this much harder for me. Instead of this being a preview for 2 different series, it’s only this one. This series does arguably deserve its own article, and I can’t wait for it to start. This is the matchup that I’m the most interested in, and I still can’t believe that Joel Kiviranta robbed us of that last season. I’m hoping that this is going to be a series for the ages. But after seeing how these teams looked in round 1 it, may not be as good as I originally thought that it would be.
Nathan MacKinnon is a man on a mission this postseason. He made light work of the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions by scoring 6 goals in 4 games. He’s a top 3 player in this league, and boy oh boy does he ever show up in the playoffs. People just seem to forget that he had 25 points in 15 playoff games last season, and I don’t expect him to slow down too much against Vegas here, no matter who the goalie is. Cale Makar has proven himself to already be a top 5 defenceman in this league, and he doesn’t slow down whatsoever in the playoffs. A d-core of Makar, Toews, Girard, and Graves seems illegal when you also look at how much offensive firepower they have. Donskoi is a player I’d really keep an eye on in this series. Vegas doesn’t have the best depth in the world and Donskoi on the second or third line will feast on that weakness. If Nazem Kadri's suspension appeal works out for him then I would say that Donskoi will be even better in a less prominent role. Grubauer will need to at least match the play of Fleury or Lehner in this series. If Fleury stands on his head as he has shown he still can against Minnesota, Grubauer can’t be a step behind him.
Mark Stone will be the most important player in the series to look out for. If DeBoer matches him up against the MacKinnon line he will need to play on the same level of defence he played for Ottawa in their 2017 conference finals run, maybe better. However, if he does mainly focus on being fantastic defensively his offensive game may struggle because of it. He’ll have to find the perfect balance here. Shea Theodore has to step up. Sure, Pietrangelo can step up to Makar's level, but don’t underrate the impact of Colorado's other three members of their top 4. Vegas doesn’t have the same level of defensive depth as Colorado does, so their stars on the blue line have to be at their peak. Alex Tuch had as good of a series against Minnesota as I expected him to, but when it comes to Colorado he’s going to have much more of a difficult time. They have a lot more depth than the Wild do, but if he’s able to have the same kind of production against Colorado, Vegas will have a really good chance here. It actually looks like Lehner will start for Vegas tonight, which might end up better for them. Either way, the Golden Knights netminder is going to have to step up in a big way against Colorado.
The stats don’t really help Vegas’ case here, but you have to remember that St. Louis was probably the worst team in the playoffs. Vegas had a much more difficult first-round matchup, and I think that you can factor that into these stats. I have a feeling that the special teams are going to even out for both teams. If the Avalanche keeps up a 50.0% powerplay this series is already over, but I have a feeling that Vegas will be able to suppress them to a much more realistic level. I feel like the shots will also even out at around 29 a game, barring any extra time. I don’t necessarily know who that favours, but it’ll come down to who the hottest goalie is at the time.
Looking up and down the rosters, it’s hard to not give the Avalanche the edge across the board. They have the best line in hockey, as well as a fairly deep forward core if you include Kadri. With Kadri missing 6 games this series, (unless the appeal works out) Colorado’s forward depth does look less scary. Vegas’ forward core is nothing to overlook however, I just don’t think that they have a line that can compete with the MacKinnon line. Defensively, I think Colorado also gets the nod. Their top 4 is just too good, although if the Golden Knights blueline plays at the absolute top of their game I think that they can compete with the Avs. I think these teams are very similar in goaltending, except I think that Lehner and Fleury have a higher chance to steal the series than Grubauer does. If Grubauer gets injured or looks shaky, the Avs have no one to fall back on, while Vegas has the best tandem in the league. I feel like an idiot for saying this, but I’m picking Vegas in 7. I don’t know why, everything points to Colorado winning this series, but I just have a feeling that this is the Golden Knights year.