Avalanche Filling Void of Kadri ‘By Committee’

The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals. 

After defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final (WCF) at Rogers Place, the Avalanche have the chance to complete the series sweep and advance to their Finals for the first time since their 2001 Cup win with Game 4 on Monday night. 

The Avalanche understand the challenge of pushing a team on the brink of elimination and just how hard that final win is to obtain in order to close out a series as it took them until Game 6 – after holding a 3-1 series lead – to advance past the St. Louis Blues in the Second Round. 

This time around in the Western Conference Final, the stakes are higher and the circumstances are far different as Colorado is without starting netminder Darcy Kuemper, who left Game 1 with an upper-body injury and a crucial facet of their offense in Nazem Kadri, who left Game 3 after just one shift of 37 seconds as a result of being boarded by Edmonton’s Evander Kane. Those losses are also in addition to defenseman Samuel Girard, who has been out since Game 3 of the Second Round after sustaining a broken sternum against St. Louis. 

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Kadri is confirmed to be out for the remainder of the series, “If not longer,” per Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar. The 31-year-old had been centering one of Colorado’s most electric lines in this series alongside Finns Arturri Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen. Kadri had compiled four points (1G, 3A) through Game 3 in the WCF and had totaled 14 points (6G, 8A) during the Avalanche’s 13-game postseason run. 

“His role will be filled by committee,” Bednar said. “That’s how big of a player he is for us. It could be one guy one night and a different guy the next. I’m comfortable with it. Obviously, it’s a huge loss, but it’s out of our control.”

While the circumstances are far from ideal to be losing three significant players from Colorado’s lineup, the team is confident in its ‘luxury’ of extensive depth at every position as it continues to pine after the ultimate goal. 

“You want to control what you can control in all situations,” Bednar said. “You have to move on and look at your options. Everyone else has to be ready to go. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about the outside noise. We have a tough enough task at hand that we have to be focused on that and how to have success within that. That’s been our mentality. We’ve learned that over the last few years. Guys have done a great job staying focused and ready to perform.”

Video: Jared Bednar on Pavel Francouz stepping up in Game 3

And while the Avalanche will have to adjust their lineup with the newest void of Kadri, they know the Oilers aren’t going to back down in Game 4 for the chance to preserve their season. 

“It’s going to be tough,” Nathan MacKinnon said. “Last series against St. Louis, we were up 3-1 and gave them life. It’s hard to win that fourth game, it’s very difficult. It’s going to be very challenging. It’s a brand-new game, regardless of [the series lead]. We’ve got to come out strong and play a great game. 

“We’re 0-0 going into next game,” MacKinnon continued. “It’s a brand-new game. We’ve got to come out extremely strong because we’re going to see their best.”