Deen’s Daily: Golden Knights Hold On in Game 1; Avs and Stars Back At It — Should Landeskog Replace Colton?

The Avalanche and Stars play Game 2 tonight. Aside from Dallas, the home teams continue to win Game 1. Also, will tonight finally be the night Gabriel Landeskog returns?

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — April 21.

Colorado Hockey Now

The Avs have a chance to grab a 2-0 hold of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars tonight. As of the time this is being written, we still don’t know if Ross Colton is healthy enough to play after leaving Game 1 with a lower-body injury. And if he can’t play, that could open a spot for Gabriel Landeskog to enter the lineup. We’ll have to see who takes the ice for warm-ups later tonight.

Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent in his playoff debut. Can he do it again tonight?

Also, the Avs signed one of their prospects out of Russia on Sunday. He’ll head to North America for the 2025-26 season.

If you haven’t already, catch my 10 Observations from Game 1. The Avalanche sent a message with their strong play on Saturday.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Recap

Carolina vs. New Jersey: The Hurricanes took Game 1 in a pretty one-sided game on Sunday, defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-1. Catch the game story here, courtesy of Dan Kingerski.

The Battle of Ontario: The first playoff game in 21 years between the Sens and Leafs was pretty one sided. The Sens got into penalty trouble and the Leafs dominated with a 6-2 win.

Vegas vs. Minnesota: The Wild made things interesting late in the third period, but the Vegas Golden Knights held on to take Game 1 by a final score of 4-2.

Tonight’s Schedule

• Game 1: Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals (5 pm MT on ESPN)
• Game 2:  St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets (5:30 pm MT on ESPN2)
• Game 2: Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars (7:30 pm MT on ESPN)
• Game 1: Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings (8 pm MT on ESPN 2)

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Several teams are interested in Rickard Rakell. Will his no-trade clause be a factor in where he goes, if traded.

Montreal Hockey Now: Catch the last Habs Wrap before Game 1 of their series against the Caps.

Florida Hockey Now: Seth Jones is heading back to the playoffs. The Panthers and Lightning series will begin on Tuesday and it’ll be Jones’ first playoff game since 2020.

I’m still in Dallas and will provide live coverage for Game 2. I’m also hoping to make it to the following road trips for the remainder of the Avs’ Stanley Cup playoff run.

With that, CHN added a tip jar to the bottom of each article. It’s an opportunity for readers to donate to CHN to help cover travel costs. You can donate via PAYPAL BY CLICKING HERE or VENMO BY CLICKING HERE if you’re interested in helping out. I appreciate so much those who pitched in last week. I also appreciate all of our readers here at CHN. Happy Game 2 gameday.