Ron Chenoy-Imagn ImagesRon Chenoy-Imagn ImagesThe opening game of the Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings series felt like a two-part series. The first period was its own game, and the Kings probably went into the intermission extremeley happy with how it unfolded.Colorado had the lone power play in that frame and couldn’t do much with it. At 5-on-5, the league’s highest scoring and most dominant offensive team only mustered nine shots.

They couldn’t find the back of the net.But the second and third were different. Despite only scoring two goals, and only winning 2-1, the Avs looked like the Presidents’ Trophy winners. They looked like the team that often took control of games with their speed, tenacious forecheck, and relentless attack.Anton Forsberg helped ensure that it remained close.

And L.A. head coach D.J. Smith was really happy with how his team played on the road, despite the losing result.“I’m really happy with how we played, too,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar responded. “I think that’s the kind of game you can expect playing the Kings.

It’s a tight checking team. What, they played 50-something one-goal games and low-scoring games? I’m comfortable with that.

I think our team’s comfortable with that. It’s going to be hard to create offense. We had three goals tonight. One was disallowed, and I liked what we did on the defensive side of things, to sort of minimize the quality of scoring chances, the quantity of scoring chances.

Managed the puck well, so our guys played the right way and got the job done tonight, and then we gotta go do it again.”The third period steered more towards the Kings. They had more high-danger chances late and one additional shot on goal in general. But such is usually the case when you’re trailing by two goals late in regulation. 10 Takeaways1.

Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves and was just over two minutes away from a shutout in his first career playoff start. The veteran netminder made some big stops while being a calming presence in the Avalanche goal. What more could you ask for“Just a really consistent presence back there for us,” Cale Makar said.

“He made the saves when we needed him to. Wish we could have helped them out on the one there, but just tough. I thought he played great and helped us out a lot.”2.

In the middle of a question about Wedgewood getting his first career playoff start, Bednar cut off the reporter and said, “First ever? I didn’t know that.”3. Bednar started the game with Artturi Lehkonen on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas.

Later on, we saw Brock Nelson, Gabe Landeskog, and Nazem Kadri all get looks on the left wing. Bednar said this was strictly to get another faceoff guy in there. Lehkonen still finished the game with that line and scored the big first goal, assisted by MacKinnon. 4.

Nic Roy didn’t record a point. Not many guys did in a low-scoring game. He has looked strong in the regular season with Colorado, but this was another level.

Roy played on a line with Kadri and Landeskog — two guys who have played big minutes in their careers. But he didn’t look out of place at all.That might surprise some people, but not Bednar.“I remember him, and watched a lot of his stuff before we got him from Vegas and the guys that he played with. He moved up and down the lineup,” Bednar said.

“He played with skilled players, whether it was [William] Karlsson and [Tomas] Hertl, it’s different guys on the wing. He centered the third line there, and it was a highly effective line that helped them win a Stanley Cup, and it was a lot of, not just good defensive hockey, but impactful offensive hockey as well. And that’s what we talked about when we got him, and I think he can help contribute in that area.”5.

I liked how Parker Kelly looked on the second line. He didn’t produce, but he looked like a nice added forechecker to do a lot of what Valeri Nichushkin does as well.6. I think if Bednar had any bit of confidence in the goaltender interference rule, he wouldn’t have challenged that play.

It just felt like one that wasn’t going to get overturned. I also do believe that he feels the rulings on those plays have been so inconsistent that sometimes you can get lucky and get a goal. He had confidence in his penalty kill to do a good job if it didn’t go his way.

And they did.7. I initially thought it was ridiculous that the goal was waved off. Drew Doughty absolutely made contact with Jack Drury, who was trying to avoid the goalie.

But then this little exchange from Justin Bourne and Sean McIndoe — two great hockey minds — made me think otherwise. They make great points here. Especially the McIndoe quote response.

Again, the NHL rule is not "you can skate directly towards the crease at full speed and if anyone even brushes you then the goalie is fair game". https://t.co/MZdpuWGhmZ— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) April 19, 20268. It’s fitting that when Lehkonen eventually broke the ice late in the second period, he outmuscled Doughty at the top of the blu