On Sunday the Colorado Avalanche faced-off against the Seattle Kraken after the Avs forced a game seven on Friday night when they defeated the Kraken 4-1. The Kraken have made their first post-season appearance since their inauguration season in 2022 and have done so with the help of ex-Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer.
Despite Colorado’s push to take the top spot in the Central Division at the end of the regular season they fell short of their back-to-back chance at the cup after losing to Seattle in game seven. The Avs have gone most of the season without team captain Gabriel Landeskog who has been the glue that has kept this team on track through prior adversities.
The adversity of having Landeskog this postseason was apparent in just the first series of Colorado’s playoff push. In addition to Landeskog’s absence was the absence of Valeri Nichushkin who left Seattle just before game three and was out the remainder of the series with little explanation from the Avs.
The Avs were also without Andrew Cogliano after an MRI showed the Colorado center suffered a fractured neck likely from a hit he took into the boards in game six from the Kraken’s Jordan Eberle. Eberle was not penalized on the hit nor did the NHL believe the hit warranted a suspension. Both Darren Helm and Josh Manson were out due to injury as well.
It’s unclear the direction the Avs will be heading into next season, however; this is still a team that can perform at a high level and still have a chance at the cup next season.
In other sports the Denver Nuggets defeated the Phoenix Suns in game two, extending their series lead to 2-0. The series heads to Phoenix this Friday night for games three and four before returning to Denver next Tuesday.
Monday night’s game was a tough one for Jamal Murray who scored only 10 points but offered 8 assists, 4 rebounds and a ton of great defense. It was Nikola Jokic who drove Denver’s ten-point win over the Suns with the help of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP). KCP scored 14 points 9 of which came in the fourth quarter on three consecutive threes. Aaron Gordon added 16 more points and Bruce Brown added 9 more.
One of the Suns’ top performers left game two hurt. Chris Paul left the game with a strained groin. Luckily for Phoenix he has almost four days to recuperate before game three on Friday. Denver will likely be seeing a much more physical Suns on Friday one that will press Denver’s defense to the limits.
The Denver Broncos finished their 2023 NFL Draft filling the teams needs on both sides of the ball. Despite only having five picks the Broncos managed to draft a wide receiver (2nd round, Marvin Mims Jr., Oklahoma), a line- backer (3rd round, Drew Sanders, Arkansa), a defensive back (3rd round, Riley Moss, Iowa), a safety (6th round, JL Skinner, Boise State), and a center (7th round, Alex Forsyth, Oregon). Denver also traded for New Orleans Saints tight- end Adam Trautman.
