Avalanche win President’s Trophy, Ryan O’Reilly says Blues will beat Avs, and more NHL action
Anthony Scultore
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The Colorado Avalanche have won the President’s Trophy. By beating the Los Angeles Kings in the final game of the season, they reached 82 points to match the Vegas Golden Knights. Holding the tie-breaker of regulation wins, the Avs claim the top seed throughout the playoffs.
Avalanche win President’s Trophy
Tyson Jost scored the first two goals for the Avalanche in the second period which led the way for their 5-1 win. “First place, it’s something we’ve been going for the whole year,” Jost said after the game. “It was a goal we set in training camp.” By the time the middle stanza was over they added three more tallies and cruised to victory.
Avalanche head coach, Jared Bednar was thrilled with his team. “I love the way we finished the season,” he said. “I love the way guys dug in, guys stepping into different roles, different guys chipping in every night. We won some ugly games, we won some games where we played real well.”
Colorado’s President’s Trophy triumph this season was really impressive. They were one of a handful teams that had to shut down due to COVID and had key players out beyond that. The Avs will start their series against the Blues on Monday.
Ryan O’Reilly says Blues will beat Avs
The Blues ended their season on a three game winning streak by defeating the Wild 7-3. Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period of play, but Ryan O’Reilly and his Blues stormed back for seven unanswered goals to win the game.
So how does the captain of the Blues feel about facing the President’s Trophy winners in round one? “We’re going to have some fun and we’re going to beat them.” O’Reilly said. “When we’re skating and we’re physical, I think we give them a lot of issues. Whether that’s forecheck or defending. When we play our heavy game and commit to it and put pucks in and don’t feed their rush, we make it tough on them and find ways to beat them.”
I’m not sure if this is akin to Mark Messier’s game 6 guarantee in the 1994 Eastern Conference Final, but I know I’ll be tuning in to this series.
Finally, the Flames defeated the Canucks 4-1. The North Division is the only one still playing games with all but the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens having completed their 56 game slate.