The Avalanche Are Closing in on Stanley Cup Playoff History
The Colorado Avalanche have their sights set on Stanley Cup Playoff history.
After a dominant Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Avs own a record of 14-2 so far in the 2022 postseason. As the series shifts to Florida, the Avalanche are two wins away from doing what only one team has done in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
2012 was the last time a team flirted with this long-standing NHL record. The Los Angeles Kings lost only two games en route to the Stanley Cup Final, winning a pair of five-game series to go along with one sweep.
The Kings needed six games to win the Cup, giving them an overall playoff record of 16-4. As impressive as that mark is, it came up short of matching what the 1988 Edmonton Oilers accomplished.
The Avalanche have playoff history in their sights.
That Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers club set the NHL record for fewest losses in a single postseason on the way to a championship (excluding titles that came before the current format that requires 16 wins).
Edmonton lost only two games that playoff season, sweeping the Boston Bruins in the Final to put the finishing touches on a 16-2 run.
Now, the Avalanche are a pair of wins away from matching the record of that ’88 Oilers club. Of course, sweeping the two-time defending champions will be anything but easy for the Avs, but after a pair of big wins in Games 1 and 2, anything seems possible for Colorado.
In the event that the Avalanche would sweep the Bolts, they would also become the first team in league history to sweep three best-of-seven series in the same postseason.
The 2012 Kings were the first team to ever lead all four series 3-0, but only one of those turned into a sweep. The 1981 New York Islanders swept three of their four series, but the first round was a best-of-five at the time.
Colorado has swept both the Nashville Predators in Round One and the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final.
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It’s no secret that this Avalanche team is dominant, but if it can complete an unthinkable sweep of the Lightning, it will become historic in more ways than one.