Colorado almost made it to their goal and advanced to the next round of the playoffs and all they had to do was deliver a control blow. Recall that after two victories in a row over Arizona, the team failed with a score of 2:4, but in the next meeting they defeated the opponent with a score of 7:1, leaving no chance. By the way, Avalanches scored three goals in the first and third periods, while Nazem Qadri scored a double. Philip Grubauer didn’t have much work at goal, but still they coped with it well, reflecting 14 shots out of 15. In general, such big victories are not typical for Bednar’s team and often his players score less than four goals per game.
The Blazers made their way to the playoffs with their own hands. The team worked very hard and quite rightly took the eighth line in the Western Conference. Recall that in the last meeting, Terry Stots’ charges defeated Memphis and secured the right to play in the 1/8 finals. After the restart of the season Portland was simply unrecognizable, especially the leader Damian Lillard, who worked wonders on the floor in almost every fight. The team lost only twice, as it turned out to be weaker than Boston (124-128) and Clippers (117-122). Now the trackers will have to confront the Lakers, although after they have passed the Blazers they are not afraid of any opponent.
