Well, that didn’t go as planned.
At least not for the Calgary Flames.
The opening round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs will end soon, and neither Eastern Conference nor the Western will feature a number one seed.
On Friday night, the number eight seed, Colorado Avalanche, dispatched the Calgary Flames, by a core of 5-1 and 4-1 in the series.
As it turns out, this one was, as with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ win over the Tampa Bay Lighting, an embarrassment.
“It feels good to be on this side of the series for once,” Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog, who had a goal, said. “I’ve been on the other side in 2014 and last year. It feels good. It’s just the start. I’m really proud of the guys and the way we’ve come together and the way we’ve played in this series. I think it’s awesome. This is step one. We’re looking to get some days of rest and get back at it next week.”
Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves to get the series-ending win.
Mikko Rantanen and Colin Wilson each struck for two goals.
“It’s big, but we’re not done yet,” Rantanen said. “I think everybody’s hungry. We could see even after this game, guys were not celebrating too much. We know we’re not done yet. There’s lots of work to do. This is the first step.”
For the fist time since the 1967-68 expansion year, neither of the league’s top two teams in the NHL’s regular season have not advanced past the second round.
Parity is one thing, but poor play is another. The Flames were out-hustled, out-played, and out-desired by the Avs.
TJ Brodie scored the only goal for the Flames.
“People say that it’s hard to close out the series, especially when it’s 3-1,” Rantanen said. “I think it was a great team effort again. We got an early lead right away and then we just finished it off.”
The Avs now wait on the winner of the San Jose SHarks – Vegas Golden Knights winner.
[WATCH: Avalanche vs. Flames Game 5 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Mike Smith made 27 saves in the loss.
“Everybody that makes it in is an NHL playoff team and they deserve to be in there,” Smith said. “It’s a hard season to get into the playoffs. It’s so competitive. Once you’re in there, anything can happen.
“I didn’t think we played our best consistently throughout this series and you have to do your best if you want to move on. You can’t move on just being average. They were better. They were the better team and they deserve some credit.”
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