DENVER (AP) — Brent Burns showed off his wry sense of humor shortly after Colorado completed its first-round sweep.
“Better than the alternative, I guess,” the 41-year-old defenseman cracked after completing the 4-0 series win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
The Avalanche joined the Carolina Hurricanes in moving on after making quick work of their opening series. Carolina finished its sweep of Ottawa on Saturday.
No real surprise the top two seeds — and favorites to meet in the Stanley Cup Final — were the first teams to get through to the second round. These are also the top two teams in the league going back to the 2020-21 season when factoring in regular-season points (Colorado 640, Carolina 632) and regulation wins (Colorado 247, Carolina 238).
Now, they sit back and rest.
The Hurricanes face the winner of Philadelphia-Pittsburgh in a series the Flyers now lead 3-2 after falling 3-2 in Game 5 on Monday night. The Avalanche draw one of their Central Division rivals, Dallas or Minnesota. That hard-hitting series is currently tied at 2-2.
Both teams could be looking at more than a week between games. All that rest certainly benefits a player such as Burns, who’s chasing after his first Stanley Cup title in his 22nd season and who played the previous three seasons with Carolina.
Or there's 36-year-old Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen, who stopped 105 of 110 shots (95.5%) and finished with a 1.10 goals-against average against the Senators. Managing Andersen's workload had been a topic of discussion going into the Ottawa series with one-time waiver pickup Brandon Bussi also available, though the time off might make that concern moot for the immediate future.
It's also a chance to heal from some bumps and bruises that come with playoff hockey. Colorado defenseman Josh Manson is dealing with an injury that caused him to miss Game 4. Carolina's Nikolaj Ehlers was a late scratch for the Game 4 clincher due to a lower-body injury, removing from the lineup their big free-agent signing last summer and part of the Hurricanes' league-best scoring depth.
Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin was knocked of Game 4 by a jarring hit from Ottawa’s Tyler Kleven. The 24-year-old Nikishin, who was pressed into the playoff lineup last year due to injuries as a prized prospect, has a concussion but was able to return with the team to Raleigh.
“It’s nice to have a few days just to reset,” first-round star Logan Stankoven said after a series that saw him find the net in every game.
Colorado became the seventh Presidents’ Trophy winner to sweep its opening round series since it became an award in 1985-86. The Avalanche also accomplished the feat in 2001 and 2021.
For Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood, the break has an additional bonus — family time.
“Excited to spend some more days with the family,” Wedgewood said. “Don’t get to see them as much in this time frame, so that’s obviously hard on the heart.”
It was quite a series for Wedgewood, who made his first NHL postseason start against the Kings. His five goals allowed in the first round were the second-lowest by an Avalanche/Nordiques goalie over a best-of-seven series. The only goaltenders to allow fewer were Philipp Grubauer — four goals allowed in round one against Arizona in 2020 — and Patrick Roy, who surrendered four as Colorado swept Florida to win the 1996 Stanley Cup title.
“Our main focus is just playing really good defensive hockey,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “On the bench, that’s what we’re preaching. So I feel like that’s how you win is good sound, defensive hockey.”
Not only did the Avalanche allow the fewest goals in the regular season, but they scored the most. MacKinnon led the way with a career-best 53 goals.
The speedy forward got on track in the series clincher with two goals and an assist. That marked the fourth time in his career he’s collected three or more points in a best-of-seven clinching game. Since 1968, there have been five players who've notched more: Wayne Gretzky (15 times), Mark Messier (10), Jari Kurri (seven), Mario Lemieux (five) and Glenn Anderson (five), according to NHL Stats.
“He’s our driver offensively, and obviously he’s one of the best players in the world,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “He doesn’t get enough credit for the stuff that he does away from the puck and the way he checks.
“I think when you see one of the most skilled players in the world do those things, it goes a long way for the rest of the group.”
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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
