LOS ANGELES -- The top-seeded Colorado Avalanche are advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after completing a four-game sweep, defeating the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1, in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena Sunday afternoon.
A phrase commonly heard within NHL circles is how difficult it can be to win the fourth game of a series when the opponent has its back against the wall.
"It is a tough one to get," Gabriel Landeskog said. "It's not easy to close a team out, especially in their building. Everybody contributed and we did what we needed to do."
Colorado stampeded that narrative and buried Los Angeles with the help of quality checking, excellent goaltending and offensive playmakers coming alive.
Los Angeles entered the matchup looking to send the series back to Denver and extend Anze Kopitar's career by one more game. The Avalanche, who took home the Presidents' Trophy after a 55-win regular season, slammed the door on the series with its most complete performance.
"We found different ways to shut them down," Cale Maker said. "It just shows that we stuck to our details the entire series."
Los Angeles applied early pressure, securing two power-play in the early stages of the game. Unfortunately for interim head coach D.J. Smith and the Kings, the offensive woes continued and Los Angeles failed to score both times.
"I felt like they were pushing us at times and we were able to weather it," Makar said.
Despite losing the first three games of the best-of-seven series, Los Angeles executed its game plan of slowing down Nathan MacKinnon, who finished the regular season with the most goals in the NHL. However, in Game 4, MacKinnon broke through Los Angeles' stingy defense and showcased his elite talent when the puck is in his hands.
MacKinnon notched three points in the series clinching game, including a power-play goal in the first period to give Colorado an early lead. The score brought a sigh of relief to Colorado's bench, as that would be the first goal of the series while on the man advantage for the Avalanche.
"When you have an offensive weapon like Nate, you have no choice but to buy into it," head coach Jared Bednar said. "You aren't going to be able to shut him down all the time."
Colorado's other superstar would secure his second goal of the series after finding a hole in Los Angeles' defense and firing a shot past Anton Forsberg to double the Avalanche lead.
"[Makar] is a different force for them, Trevor Moore said.
Scott Wedgewood continued his remarkable playoff debut, saving 24 of 25 shots in the Game 4 win. The 33-year-old saved a combined 96 of 101 shots sent his direction in the four games for Colorado, posting a .950 save percentage. The goalie detailed what allowed the team to find success defensively.
"Details, communication, blocking shots," Wedgewood said. "That was probably the most talking I've heard out from our guys in the d-zone all series."
In the opposing crease, Forsberg did all he could to limit Colorado's explosive offensive attack but the Avalanche stars came alive. Forsberg saved 27 of 31 shots and ends the postseason with losses in all four games.
After Joel Edmundson cut the deficit in half with just the second 5-on-5 goal of the series for Los Angeles, the game entered the third period with Colorado clinging to a 2-1 lead. In the final 20 minutes, the Kings just couldn't keep pace with the league's best team. Colorado ran away with a four-goal win by outscoring Los Angeles 3-0 in the final frame and displayed just how dangerous the team can be when playing at full strength.
"Credit to them for being the best team all year, Moore said. "They have an incredibly deep team."
"They're a really good team," Kempe said. They don't give up a lot of chances."
The Kings were unable to come up with a win against the league's premier Stanley Cup contender. That doesn't mean the series wasn't competitive.