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Kings vs. Avalanche: First-round scouting report, prediction

April 18, 2026

SERIES SCHEDULE

(Best-of-seven, all times PT)

Game 1: Noon Sunday at Ball Arena (Denver)

Game 2: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Ball Arena (Denver)

Game 3: 7 p.m. Thursday at Crypto.com Arena

Game 4: 1:30 p.m. April 26 at Crypto.com Arena

*Game 5: Time TBD April 29 at Ball Arena (Denver)

*Game 6: Time TBD May 1 at Crypto.com Arena

*Game 7: Time TBD May 3 at Ball Arena (Denver)

* –if necessary

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Avalanche swept the regular-season series 3-0-0

Oct. 7: Avalanche 4, Kings 1 at Crypto.com Arena

Dec. 29: Avalanche 5, Kings 2 at Ball Arena

March 2: Avalanche 4, Kings 2 at Crypto.com Arena

TALE OF THE TAPE

Avalanche (regular-season rank) … category … Kings (regular-season rank)

55-16-11, 121 points … Season record … 35-27-20, 90 points

3.63 (1st) … Goals per game… 2.68 (29th)

2.40 (1st) … Goals-against per game … 2.90 (T-7th)

17.1% (27th) … Power-play Pct. … 17.0% (28th)

84.6% (1st) … Penalty-kill Pct. … 74.6% (30th)

+99 (1st) … Goal Differential … -22 (T-21st)

90.9% (1st) … Save Pct. … 89.4%( 13th)

51.2% (8th) … Faceoff Pct. … 49.8% (17th)

FORWARDS

Adrian Kempe tallied the most points in black and silver this season with 73, which would place him fourth on the Avs and not even lead their defensemen in scoring, much less their forwards. The addition of Artemi Panarin, who accumulated 84 points in a bi-coastal campaign that saw him move from the Big Apple to L.A., certainly bolstered the Kings’ power play and overall attack. But the loss of Kevin Fiala for the season dampened Panarin’s impact. Quinton Byfield scored more than half his goals, 13 of 24, in 24 games after the Olympic break. Andrei Kuzmenko (torn meniscus) has progressed rapidly toward a return but probably cannot close the mountainous gap between the Kings and Avs alone.

Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer and racked up 127 total points. Martin Necas hit the 100-point mark for the first time and was one of just eight players to cross that threshold. Brock Nelson finally filled the elusive second-line center slot. The additions of Nicolas Roy and particularly Nazem Kadri, a pivot who’d factored heavily into the Avs’ 2022 Stanley Cup triumph, at the trade deadline deepened their lineup while giving it edge and clutch scoring. With core and complementary pieces in place, it’s hard to find a hole in the Avs’ lineup. EDGE: AVALANCHE

DEFENSEMEN

Once the fulcrum of their success, the Kings’ defense corps has been diluted and downgraded in recent seasons. The departure of Matt Roy was hedged somewhat by the signing of Joel Edmundson two summers ago, but replacing Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence with Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci while Drew Doughty, 36 and in his 18th season, grays and frays has proven highly counterproductive. Gavrikov was the Kings’ best defenseman last season and Spence, who performed effectively in his role for the Kings, was a key player down the stretch for the Ottawa Senators. Ceci and Dumoulin had little positive impact on the Kings, who slipped in terms of defensive effectiveness, regressed tremendously in the transition game and plummeted all the way to 30th of 32 teams on the penalty kill. On the bright side, Brandt Clarke emerged as a legit No. 1 option, while Doughty and partner Mikey Anderson were enlivened late in the year after battling injuries and mixed form,

The Avs possess what is regarded as the best top pairing in the world with perennial Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar and partner Devon Toews, who were also Canada’s go-to duo at the Olympics. Behind them are the slept-on Sam Malinski and some old chums of the Kings: former Edmonton Oiler Brett Kulak, one-time San Jose Sharks Norris winner Brent Burns and Ducks draftee Josh Manson. Nick Blankenburg followed Kulak to Colorado, and the Avs boast quality, balance and depth on their blue line. EDGE: AVALANCHE

GOALIES

Darcy Kuemper was the starter for Colorado as they exalted in 2022, but he’s likely to be the backup for the Kings in this series. Despite Kuemper being the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy last year, his solid start gave way to injury woes whose cumulative impact knocked him off his game and opened the door for Anton Forsberg. The backup brought the ship into port during the regular season, stabilizing the backstop amid a tooth-and-nail playoff race, but isn’t exactly a name-brand netminder. At 33, he has never made an appearance in the playoffs.

Colorado’s tandem was something of a reclamation project, with Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood once jockeying around a New Jersey Devils organization that was looking high and low for goaltending. They’ve thrived in the Mile High City, with Wedgewood making six more appearances than Blackwood during the season, and they could continue to rotate. They combined to win the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed. EDGE: AVALANCHE

SPECIAL TEAMS

Over the past two seasons, only the Carolina Hurricanes had a better penalty-kill percentage than the Kings, but this year they went from regal to plebeian while shorthanded, turning in the third-worst PK percentage in the league. Their power play didn’t exactly pick up the slack, though it has been more dangerous with Panarin, jumping from 16% to 20% since his Feb. 25 debut. Still, only five teams had a lower conversion rate, and their man-advantage meandering spanned most of the season.

That was also true of the Avs, whose elite penalty kill was not supplemented by even a competent power play despite the presence of some of the NHL’s most dangerous offensive weapons. But they rose from a 15.8% clip to 21.7% once Kadri rejoined them March 10. EDGE: AVALANCHE

COACHES

Jared Bednar has a Stanley Cup to his name and in his first NHL coaching gig he has established himself as one of the most coveted commodities behind the bench.

D.J. Smith was promoted to interim coach March 1, his first game coming in a loss to these same Avs a day later. With the Ottawa Senators, his only other head coaching experience, the Sens missed the postseason cut five years in a row. EDGE: AVALANCHE

SERIES PREDICTION

The Kings scraped into the playoffs after a season that saw them wait far too long to make a coaching change and get rocked by injuries at the Olympics (in addition to Fiala, Joel Armia was banged up in Milan, Kuemper’s issues were exacerbated and Kuzmenko was injured in the first game after the break).

The Avalanche led the league essentially wire-to-wire, placing first in wins, points, goals for, goals against, penalty-kill percentage, goal differential and save percentage. Even beyond the numbers, their roster construction and top-end talent make them as prohibitive of a favorite as the NHL has seen in the salary-cap era. PREDICTION: AVALANCHE IN 5

Orange County Register

News Details

Kings vs. Avalanche: First-round scouting report, prediction

SERIES SCHEDULE

HEAD-TO-HEAD

TALE OF THE TAPE

FORWARDS

DEFENSEMEN

GOALIES

SPECIAL TEAMS

COACHES

SERIES PREDICTION

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