17 hours ago
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Nicolas Roy and Devon Toews scored in the third period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 5-1 victory in Game 4 on Sunday.
Cale Makar also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avs advanced to face the winner of the heavyweight first-round series between Dallas and Minnesota.
Colorado coach Jared Bednar praised his team’s defensive acumen after holding the defense-first Kings to five goals in four games, noting that his high-powered lineup would probably prefer to emphasize offense.
“It’s not as fun to commit on the defensive side and really dig in there and spend a bunch of energy there to chip away at the game, but I think they bought into the way we needed to play the LA Kings,” Bednar said. “And that may change a little bit for the next opponent … but they did a heck of a job playing the right way in order to win it.”
Colorado also ended the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who announced his pending retirement in September.
The Slovenian center is the top scorer in franchise history and a two-time Selke Trophy winner, and he was a star on the ...
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