He could go to the Stanley Cup Final in the next game
Tampa. The Colorado Avalanche has a match ball.
They scored their third win over the Edmonton Oilers last night and in two days could be ready for their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years.
– But in qualifying, you have to force yourself to live in the present and never think about the future. So we are just focusing on the fact that we have to play well in the next game, Gabriel Landskog tells Sportbladet after the 4-2 win.
The final conference of the great powers Colorado Avalanche And Edmonton will be a naval battle for the history books, it was said — but the stars from the Rocky Mountains are in full swing to be spurred on by Conor McDavid & Company in four straight.
They won both home games of the week by uncontested – and followed up with their 4-2 victory at Rogers Place in Edmonton last night.
Ready to win the final
If they also win the next game, the night before Tuesday, they are suddenly ready for the Stanley Cup Final.
It’s hard not to get a little upset in those circumstances, perhaps?
Yes, the matches themselves are not the toughest challenges in the playoffs. Colorado captain Gabriel Landskog, who didn’t appear in the Stanley Cup Final, says it’s all the time between games when you go and think about what could happen, when we got to it after last night’s success in Alberta.
You simply have to force yourself to live in the present and not think too much about the future. So we are just focusing on the next game and we have to play well again.
Well, the Swedish captain and his teammates have reason to be optimistic anyway. Lots of different factors now speak in their favour.
As if it turns out that they can win in many different ways. At the opening meeting, they took the Oilers on a wide-open show of the Wild West. Then they shut it down completely at the next meeting – and did it again tonight.
‘They should deserve it’
– That’s how we realized we had to play, Gabe continues.
If they want to create chances against us, they should deserve it. We are very keen on the details of the match without a disc, and all five players on the ice are defending together.
It is also now clear that there is a lot of depth in the lineup. Sam Gerrard, Andrei Burakowski, Ryan Murray, goalkeeper Darcy Comber and Nicholas Ob-Koppel have all been hurt before – and last night Nazim Kadri, a real key player in this year’s playoffs, disappeared at an early stage. But Avs still wins anyway.
– It obviously gives us confidence to see someone like JT Compher instead step up and decide when Kadri can no longer play. “We have a lot of good players,” says Captain Landskog.
star is damaged
Connected to the brutal ascension to the short plate by Evander Kane just over a minute later, Kadri injured himself – so sadly so that he missed the rest of the conference final.
Kane was sent off for five minutes for the move, but not from the penalty spot. However, the risk is imminent that he will be suspended for a match or two.
– This is a kind of intervention that sends cold bodies along the spine. I was already taught as a kid not to do that. I’m convinced the league will take care of this, says Landeskog.
Thus, the final of the fourth conference between Avalanche and Oilers will be decided the night before Tuesday – 02.00 Swedish time.