Avalanche sweep Oilers in conference finals

The Edmonton Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs last night following a 6-5 OT loss vs the Colorado Avalanche, and losing the series 4-0. The Avalanche will move on to the finals to play the winner of the Rangers and Lighting series, where the Rangers are currently leading 2-1.  It will be their first finals appearance since 2001. 

Despite starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper and forward Nazem Kadri being injured, the Avalanche have shown no signs of slowing down this postseason; they have only lost two games this entire playoff. Kuemper has been in and out of the playoffs so far, playing some games but not others. 

After sustaining an eye injury in the first round vs the Predators from a stick getting stuck in his mask, backup goaltender Pavel Francouz has filled the role, arguably playing better than Kuemper. Kuemper was just limited to the first game of this series, where he left halfway through due to blurry vision. He didn’t dress in games 2 and 3 but returned to the bench in game 4. Although he could be ready for the finals, the Avalanche may elect to stick with Francouz. 

However, Kadri is most likely done for the season, after breaking his thumb from a hit from behind by Oilers forward Evander Kane. This is a tough loss for the Avs, as Kadri was having superb playoffs, posting 14 points in 13 games. 

The Oilers also battled through their fair share of injuries. Top pair defensemen Darnell Nurse played the whole playoffs with a torn hip flexor, while still averaging over 21 minutes a night. Leon Draisaitl was basically playing on one leg, suffering from a serious ankle injury. Watching the game it was obvious that he had been in discomfort, but he still finished the playoffs second in points, with 32, only behind teammate Connor McDavid, who had 33. 

"Warriors. Warriors, but those are your leaders. Those are guys other guys look up to, and when you're seeing your top players battle through injuries and throw it all out on the ice and give it everything they have, then you want to do the same”, Oilers goaltender Mike Smith said. 

Speaking of  Mike Smith, Smith had a strange postseason, to say the least. At some points, he would seem unbeatable, and then other times he would let in terribly soft goals. He finished with a .913 save percentage, which is good, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Too many soft goals at bad times plagued the team. In game 3, a soft five-hole goal led to the Avs winning the game. In game 4 he surrendered 3 goals in the last 6 minutes, and it only took a little over a minute before the Avs ended it in OT. Puck playing was also an issue for Smith. A bad turnover in game 4 led to an Avalanche goal, and there were many instances in which he got away with some, especially in game 3, but he was lucky enough to just get back in time to get a piece of it.