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Avalanche’s Cale Makar shares ‘stingy’ praise for Kings after 1st-round sweep
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- Avalanche’s Cale Makar shares ‘stingy’ praise for Kings after 1st-round sweep
Avalanche’s Cale Makar shares ‘stingy’ praise for Kings after 1st-round sweep appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Colorado Avalanche are the first team in the Western Conference to advance past the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they’ll get some rest and relaxation before meeting either the Dallas Stars or Minnesota Wild in Round 2.
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Despite sweeping the Los Angeles Kings — finishing the job with a 5-1 victory at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday afternoon — Cale Makar was complimentary at the conclusion of a matchup that was closer than it looked on paper.
“It’s a good test for us. That’s a stingy defensive team over there that has a lot of offensive threats, and we found different ways to be able to shut them down,” Makar told reporters afterwards, per NHL.com’s Dan Greenspan.
“They played us really well defensively, and it felt like these last couple games we did a better job at finding different ways to get to the net. For us, again, it’s a lot of internal stuff. We got to make sure that we’re working together as a team, and there’s no individual in here, that’s for sure.”
The Kings went on a late-season heater, going 7-2-2 down the stretch to slide into the No. 8 seed in the West. But they were outmatched by an Avalanche team that won the President’s Trophy in 2025-26, and has its sights firmly set on a potential second Stanley Cup championship in five seasons.
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Still, Games 1 and 2 were decided by a single goal, and Game 3 would have been as well if Brock Nelson hadn’t found an empty net late in regulation. LA defended well and kept things close throughout the series, but were unable to get many pucks past Scott Wedgewood . He allowed just five total goals.
That ended up being the difference, and although Artemi Panarin pulled his weight offensively after coming over from the New York Rangers ahead of the deadline, the absence of Kevin Fiala loomed large.
It’s a disappointing ending for the Kings, and especially Anze Kopitar, who was unable to win a playoff game in his final NHL season. The surefire Hall of Famer will still retire with two Stanley Cups, and he was showered with love from the crowd after Game 4.
Related: Erik Johnson requests Cale Makar change to fix Avalanche’s putrid powerplay in 2nd round
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