Avalanche advance to second round after sweeping Kings

The top team in the NHL during the regular season has quickly made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a 5-1 win on Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings, advancing to the Central Division Final for the first time in two seasons.

The Avalanche join the Carolina Hurricanes as the only teams to make it out of the opening round of the postseason without a blemish on their record. The Hurricanes completed their sweep of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

While the series finished in the minimum four games, the Kings certainly didn’t make things easy on the Presidents’ Trophy winners. The first two games of the series were decided by a mere goal, with Colorado needing a goal from Nicolas Roy in overtime to come away with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 in Denver. Yet, the starpower and depth scattered through the Avs’ roster proved to be too much for a Los Angeles team that has a wide mix of aging veterans and youth.

It was the Avalanche’s first playoff series win since 2024, and just the team’s second since winning the Stanley Cup. They were eliminated in the opening round in 2023 and 2025, losing to the upstart Seattle Kraken and Dallas Stars, respectively.

It certainly was a somber afternoon in Hollywood, as the loss marked the final game for longtime Kings star Anze Kopitar. The Slovenian center previously announced that the 2025-26 campaign would be his final season in the NHL. Along with surpassing Marcel Dionne for the most points in franchise history, Kopitar went out with class, capping off one of the most fruitful careers in the modern era.

The Avalanche now await to see who they will face in the second round of the postseason. It will be the winner of the Stars and Minnesota Wild, which is set to go at least six games, giving Colorado plenty of time to rest up.