Avalanche take Game 1
- The Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series at Ball Arena. - The one-goal margin came in Denver on Sunday night, giving Colorado an early series lead. - The result sets the Avalanche up with home-ice momentum as the best-of-seven series moves forward. (denverpost.com)
Colorado opened its first-round series by edging Los Angeles 2-1 on April 19, with Scott Wedgewood stopping 24 shots in his first Stanley Cup playoff start. (nhl.com) Artturi Lehkonen scored on the power play at 7:20 of the second period, and Logan O’Connor put Colorado ahead for good at 5:50 of the third after a scoreless first. Los Angeles got its only goal from Alex Turcotte at 15:50 of the third. (nhl.com) Wedgewood’s win came in his postseason debut, while Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg made 28 saves in defeat. Colorado finished with a 30-25 edge in shots and went 1-for-4 on the power play; Los Angeles went 0-for-4. (espn.com) The opener matched the top seed in the Western Conference against a Kings team that went 35-27-20 in the regular season and earned a fifth straight playoff berth. Colorado entered the series after a 55-16-11 season and home-ice advantage at Ball Arena. (espn.com) (nhl.com) Colorado leaned on players outside its headline stars. O’Connor’s goal was his first in a year, according to the Associated Press report carried by ESPN, after he missed most of the season with a hip injury. (espn.com) Los Angeles stayed within a goal into the final minutes despite losing the special-teams battle and getting outshot. The Kings killed Colorado’s only first-period power play and kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes before Lehkonen broke through in the second. (nhl.com) The series now stays in Denver for Game 2 before shifting to Los Angeles later in the week. Colorado leaves the opener with a 1-0 lead and the margin it protected on Sunday. (espn.com)
