Those challenges have yet to come in the postseason for the Avalanche, who swept the Los Aneles Kings in the first round, allowing five goals in the four games. In the second round, they dispatched the Minnesota Wild in five, erasing a three-goal deficit in the clincher.<\/p>\n
Vegas has had it a bit harder, being pushed to six games in each round but getting past the Utah Mammoth and the Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job playing for each other,\u201d Vegas forward Jack Eichel<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of positives and things to take away. We know that if we want to achieve what we want to achieve at the end of the season, we\u2019re going to have to continue to elevate our game and get better every game and every series. That\u2019s our goal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are things that we still find we can improve on, so try and improve on those. We\u2019re going to need our best against Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avalanche, the No. 1 seed in the Central Division and Western Conference, will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series against the Golden Knights, the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Division.<\/p>\n Center Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> leads the Avalanche with 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and forward Martin Necas<\/a> has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists). Forward Gabriel Landeskog<\/a>\u00a0(three goals, five assists) and defenseman Devon Toews<\/a>\u00a0(two goals, six assists) each has eight points, and defenseman Cale Makar<\/a> has scored four goals.<\/p>\n Scott Wedgewood<\/a> is 7-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in eight games (seven starts) for Colorado. Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a>\u00a0is 1-0 with a 3.20 GAA and .872 save percentage in three games (two starts).<\/p>\n For the Golden Knights, forward Mitch Marner<\/a>\u00a0leads the NHL this postseason with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 12 games, and Eichel is tied for second with 15 points (one goal, 14 assists). Forward Pavel Dorofeyev<\/a>\u00a0leads the NHL with nine goals, and forward Brett Howden<\/a>\u00a0is second with eight.<\/p>\n