Speculation: Playoff matchup discussion

[Balthazar]

The Avs have clinched a playoff spot so we are allowed to discuss this I guess...and better here than lost in a random GDT.

Currently we have 9 games left and Vegas is 6 points ahead of us. Odds are we're going to face the Wild in round 1...(hopefully with home ice advantage).

Would be nice if the Blues could enter the playoffs red-hot and give Vegas all they can handle in the first round. Blues may have a chip on their shoulder because of Petro switching side, too.

Click to read more...

 

[Balthazar]

Also the North is pretty much set in stone as well for round 1:

Toronto vs Montreal
Edmonton vs Winnipeg

There's still a race in the central and the east for the last playoff spot.

 

[PAZ]

My preference is still playing Minny over St. Louis, especially with the run the Blues are having (and this is with an injured Parayko). St. Louis will be a lot rougher match-up than Minny, and if we can't beat Minny we weren't going to win the cup anyways.

 

[dahrougem2]

I don't give a **** who we play if we're healthy, I pick us in a 7-game series over every single team in our division.

Health is the only thing that matters to me.

 

[MarkT]

Yep, if we're healthy we beat every other team in the division unless the other team's goalie plays out of this world for four games. So that being case the team that "worries" me most is Vegas since they have the two best goalies of the three teams we might play.

 

[forsbergavs32]

I’d probably prefer Minny over St. Louis right now but Minny has been pretty hot lately too so we’ll see. But I expect St. Louis to give Vegas a run for their money since they’ve been hot and want to show Pie he should have stayed.

That said, don’t care about matchups really just get healthy and rest guys for the last 3-4 games (namely Mack, Lando, Mikko, Toews and Girard)

 

[jimmysheva]

Blues are heating up. Might as well play the Wild in the first round. Either way, there's no easy match up.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

1st place is still very much up for grabs.


Vegas is 6 points ahead, but we still play them once more, and they still play the Wild 2x and Blues 2x. For us, besides that one game against Vegas, we play LA and San Jose the other 8 games remaining.


Very possible for the Avs to push an 8-1-0 sort of stretch run here and if we beat the Knights in that game, then catching them can definitely happen.


Winning last night would have made things much more interesting but what can you do.

 

[Ceremony]

We're finishing 3rd in the division, playing Minnesota and losing in 6.

 

[katfude]

I bet you're fun at parties.

 

[Avs71]

Doesn’t matter, would just prefer home ice and a healthy team.

I still think the Blues are better than the Wild, so it could be the old blessing in disguise slipping into 2nd. For some reason the Blues just know how to play the Avs.

It really all just comes down to whether Grubauer is in net or not.

 

[avsfan9]

Doesn’t matter, would just prefer home ice and a healthy team.

I still think the Blues are better than the Wild, so it could be the old blessing in disguise slipping into 2nd. For some reason the Blues just know how to play the Avs.

It really all just comes down to whether Grubauer is in net or not.

Yeah if we don’t have a healthy Gru we aren’t going anywhere anyways.

 

[Iceberg]

We can come out of the West, but i can't see this team winning four series with this defense... It's too small.

 

[The Shermanator]

With Arizona falling off the the 1 v 4 match up against them isn't really possible anymore so falling into 2nd is honestly not that bad.

All the Blues fans reading this thread will enjoy me saying that.

 

[AvsCOL]

My only concern continues to be the one thing that has plagued this team... injuries

If the Avs are healthy they can hang with any team in the NHL. Problem is, they haven't proven they can ice that full lineup for any more than 2-3 games in a row.

 

[Ararana]

I wouldn't entirely rule out the first seed quite yet. The Avs are getting Rantanen and Grubauer back and the rest of their schedule is a joke outside of one Vegas game. Vegas' schedule is pretty competitive. If the Blues truly are getting hot they could do us some favors as they play Vegas twice and Min twice.

I honestly don't really care who the Avs first round opponent is between Min and St Louis. If the Avs are healthy I think they steamboat either club. For me the real prize is home ice over a potential second round vs Vegas and beyond.

 

[henchman21]

1st place is still very much up for grabs.


Vegas is 6 points ahead, but we still play them once more, and they still play the Wild 2x and Blues 2x. For us, besides that one game against Vegas, we play LA and San Jose the other 8 games remaining.


Very possible for the Avs to push an 8-1-0 sort of stretch run here and if we beat the Knights in that game, then catching them can definitely happen.


Winning last night would have made things much more interesting but what can you do.

It isn't impossible, but damn will it be tough. If Vegas even goes .500 in pts, that puts them at 80. Given how good they are, I think that is their baseline. To match that the Avs have to go 7-2. Vegas currently owns the tiebreaker, so in that 7-2 the Avs would have to win in regulation. Not impossible, but just a really tough task and requires Vegas to stumble and the Avs can't slip up at all.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I’ll still take the Blues over the Wild.

When the Blues are on they’ve got a really good 4 line attack, but their defence is still average at best. They give up a ton of goals. I don’t think there’s any easy matchup, but the Wild are a more complete team than the Blues.

 

[Mighty Makar]

I’ll still take the Blues over the Wild.

When the Blues are on they’ve got a really good 4 line attack, but their defence is still average at best. They give up a ton of goals. I don’t think there’s any easy matchup, but the Wild are a more complete team than the Blues.

I agree. I think the Wild are better than the Blues.

 

[henchman21]

Add to that Evason is a hell of a coach. He's far better than Berube and Evason will have some counters that could give the Avs some fits. I'd much rather face the Blues.

 

[The Pwnerer]

Blues or Wild won't be easy, but if we can make it past them we will be much better prepared for the 2nd round compared to last year where we came out lackadaisical against Dallas.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

If we are relatively healthy I believe we can take any team in our division. Our biggest adversary is injury.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Don't care at all about the opponent or home ice, if they cannot win against the Blues or the Wild its a choke. Against Vegas anything can happen and luck will be a factor.

 

[Vk1ing]

I think we will play the wild and that is better for us. When I look at the Wild forward group there is no game breaker. kaprizov is good right now but right now he is not a game breaker. What is the wild answer to the MacKinnon line? we match up well against them. There are signs that point to the Wild overperforming this year. A healthy Avalanche team should be able to handle the Wild.

 

[henchman21]

I think we will play the wild and that is better for us. When I look at the Wild forward group there is no game breaker. kaprizov is good right now but right now he is not a game breaker. What is the wild answer to the MacKinnon line? we match up well against them. There are signs that point to the Wild overperforming this year. A healthy Avalanche team should be able to handle the Wild.

Kaprizov is absolutely a gamebreaker.