By: Chris Nosek
The Los Angeles Kings clinched their spot in one of the last days of the regular season. Artemi Panarin has really helped this team since being brought in before the trade deadline. Their offense would be significantly better if they hadn’t lost Kevin Fiala. They will be getting Andre Kuzmenko back from injury, which will help boost their lineup. They’ve received solid goaltending from both Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg all season.
My guess would be the Kings turn to Kuemper for this series. Frosberg has been the better goaltender lately, but Kuemper has the playoff experience, including a Stanley Cup championship with the Avalanche back in 2021-22. For the Avalanche, I would guess they turn to Scott Wedgewood. While many believe Blackwood is their starter, Wedgewood had seven more starts and played significantly better. With both Wedgewood and Nathan MacKinnon locked in, this team will be looking to dominate the Kings.
The Avalanche have a high-flying offense, a solid defensive group, and a goaltender at the top of his game. Knowing the winner of the series between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild is their next opponent, the Avalanche will look to put this series away as quickly as possible. Panarin has boosted their offense enough, and their road record has been so good that the Kings should be able to take at least one game.
Leave a Reply