Can the Avs live up to their role as favourites against the Coyotes?

The first round of the Stanley Cup Play-offs kicked off Tuesday and on Wednesday, partly due to postponement, no less than five first games of first round-series are scheduled. The Colorado Avalanche will face off with the Arizona Coyotes, can the Avs live up to their role as favourites?

Colorado Avalanche: second seed in the Western Conference

With the NHL Qualifier series now complete, there are still sixteen teams in the race to win the Stanley Cup this season. The Colorado Avalanche are seen by the bookies as one of the favourites and that is not entirely unjustified. There aren’t many teams in the NHL as deep as Colorado. They’re dominant in puck possession and seen as an attacking force, averaging 2.96 goals per game during 5 vs. 5 play, an NHL best this regular season. Their defense looks great too with goalie Pavel Francouz going through an excellent season and the 21-year-old Cale Makar impressing on the Avalanche blue line.

Colorado’s top line, which consisted of Miko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, was a fearsome trio during the first half of the regular season, but the team lacked secondary scoring so that’s why captain Landeskog moved to the second line. He and Nazem Kadri were both good for four points during three round robin games. After defeating the reigning champs, the St. Louis Blues, and the Dallas Stars, they lost the last game before the playoffs via overtime to Vegas.

Arizona Coyotes: surprised the Predators during the Qualifier series

The Arizona Coyotes were eleventh in the Western Conference at the end of the regular season in March. The hockey team doesn’t rely on star players, but their strength is defending collectively as a team. The arrival of Taylor Hall from the New Jersey Devils during the trade deadline was supposed to give Arizona a boost, but the performances of the team got worse instead. The Coyotes are known for their solid defense, during the regular season only the Blue Jackets, Stars and Bruins conceded less goals on average per game.

During the Qualifier series, Arizona had to compete against the Nashville Predators, who finished sixth in the Western Conference. Head coach Rick Tocchet saw that goalie Darcy Kuemper laid the foundation for winning the series with some stellar performances. Surprisingly, the Coyotes offense stepped up during their Qualifier series, averaging 3.5 goals per game in the four games against the Preds.

Colorado Avalanche in regulation

Kuemper played great on behalf of Arizona in the Qualifier series, but it's going to be a tremendously difficult task for the Coyotes to win this best-of-seven series against Colorado. During 5 vs. 5 hockey, the Avs are the most productive team in the NHL and multiple lines have proven to contribute to goal production. They’re deep and hardly have any weaknesses. It wouldn't surprise me if Colorado would sweep Arizona in this series so I expect a win for the Avs in Game 1.