The Colorado Avalanche could wrap up the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday night.
While the team focuses on finishing its own series, some players are keeping an eye on what's going on with the other matchups.
"I think everybody kind of tunes in a little bit. Obviously watching Vegas (Golden Knights) and Dallas (Stars), that's who we'd end up playing. Just kind of watch the games, but at the end of the day we're focusing on ourselves," defenseman Sean Walker said. "I think the main thing is limiting our mistakes and just playing our game. I think we can play with anybody when we're doing that."
Most of the players on the team have at least played in the playoffs in their careers but it is Casey Mittelstadt's first experience.
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"They've been through it and they've done it before. So I think for a new guy like me, I'm not saying much, I'm just just listening and trying to learn from what they have and and what they have to say," Mittelstadt said. "So yeah, not a whole lot of talking for me, but a lot of listening to those guys."
The Avalanche lost the first game 6-7 and proceeded to win the next three by at least a three-goal differential. Colorado did not defeat the Jets in any of their three regular-season matchups.
"The first round is always tough because I mean you've got to get on your game right away. I don't think that's exclusive to us. Look around the league. Look who's playing who — there's going to be eight really good teams out in the first round," head coach Jared Bednar said. "Thinking that it's an easy road at any point is ridiculous to me. I think every opponent you face presents you with challenges that are difficult for your team to handle. It also presents you with opportunities that you like when evaluating a team and there's some matchups that you might consider easier than others but they're always challenging."
The Avalanche are focused on the next game and not just closing out the series. There's no doubt the Jets will be fired up in Game 5 to avoid elimination.
"The main thing is just, I don't think the series, the score of the series matters too much," Mittelstadt said. "Get ready to play and get ready to play your game. And you know, obviously, we're going to have to bring that intensity to every playoff game and every night. So I think that's the main thing — trust the process and get yourself ready to go."
The Avs are confident and trying to keep the momentum going from their 5-1 win on Sunday afternoon.
"We're feeling good in the room. We like the way we're playing. Really eliminating their scoring chances and I think we're doing a really good job on the offensive side of things," Walker said. "We're feeling good about our game, go in there, hopefully play a good game and it would be great to close it out but we're going to stick with it no matter what and play our game."
Projected lineup
The Avalanche recalled forward Chris Wagner ahead of Game 5. Bednar said Joel Kiviranta would travel with the team but was still day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Nikolai Kovalenko remained with the team as well.
Valeri Nichushkin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen — Casey Mittelstadt — Zach Parise
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Nikolai Kovalenko
Brandon Duhaime — Yakov Trenin — Andrew Cogliano
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sean Walker
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT but according to the team, will be 7:52 p.m. actual.
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