Rough Week For Avalanche & Nuggets

One week ago, it appeared as if the city of Denver could have a pair of championship teams to celebrate.

Now, it appears that two of the most popular teams in the state are going to suffer similar and very disappointing endings to their season.

The Colorado Avalanche cruised through their first six games of the postseason, winning all of them in dominating fashion. As a result, the Avalanche were the clear betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup, and they were playing their best hockey of the season.

Denver found a way to eliminate the Portland Trail Blazers in a thrilling six-game series. As a result, the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals, and it appeared as if Nikola Jokic could carry this team all the way.

Avalanche Drop Four Straight

After taking a 2-0 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights, things fell apart in a hurry for the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado had a late lead in Game 3 but eventually blew the game and lost in overtime.

In the final three games of the series, Vegas outscored the Avalanche 14-6, and the Golden Knights completely dominated the action. You could argue that the Colorado offense fell short, but goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury completely took over that series for Vegas.

Colorado was playing the entire series against Vegas without the services of Nazem Kadri due to suspension, and that definitely would have helped to have him on the ice. Still, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen should have been enough to carry the Avalanche, but they just couldn’t take over the series.

Vegas will now move on to the Stanley Cup Semifinals, and they are now the new favorite to win the Stanley Cup. The Golden Knights have plenty of recent playoff experience, and that played a role in eliminating the Avalanche.

The Avalanche will now get back to the drawing board and look to make some improvements to make another run next season. Of course, the key pieces will return, but this was supposed to be the season that MacKinnon and the Avalanche won it all.

Nuggets Can’t Stop Suns

The Denver Nuggets are back in the underdog role for the Western Conference semifinals matchup against the Phoenix Suns, but this is a role that they have excelled in over the last few seasons. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for Denver this time around, as they have quickly fallen into a 3-0 hole.

Phoenix is led by Devin Booker and Chris Paul, and the Suns offense has been impossible for the Nuggets to stop. The Suns have scored at least 116 points in all three games of the series, and the Nuggets can’t keep up.

Nikola Jokic was named the MVP of the NBA earlier this week and then was honored prior to Game 3 on Friday night. However, the Suns ended up doing the celebrating on Friday, jumping out to a big lead on the way to victory.

Jokic did record 32 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists, but he just hasn’t been getting enough help.

Why not check back for more Colorado sports betting news, free bet offers, and CO sportsbooks updates.

Relevant news