Colorado Avalanche eliminate Calgary Flames from Playoffs

It is a sad day for Calgary fans after seeing the Flames defeated on Sunday by the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche beat the Flames 5-1 to win the first round of the playoff games and brought an end to Calgary not advancing, a first since 2008.

The Calgary Flames, who were one of the leading teams in the 2019 Western Conference with a record of 50-27-8 seemed unable to handle top first line of the Colorado Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen and Colin Wilson led the attack for the Colorado with both scoring two goals and both assisting is another.

Starting goaltender for the Avalanche, Philipp Grubauer blocked what could’ve been a fantastic goal from Johnny Gaudreau during the first period. The Captain for Colorado took a step back, as fellow teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie assisted n three of the five goals. However, all wasn’t easy for the Avalanches as Gabriel Landeskog; the Captain for the Calgary Flames fought the good fight against his formidable enemy.

The Calgary Flames aren’t the only team, who were poised by hockey analysts to possibly win the playoffs that have since seen first round eliminated. The Tampa Bay Lightning also received a hasty elimination when they fought against the Columbus Blue Jackets during their fourth game but failed to stop the Blue Jackets in what was a major upset that saw Tampa Bay going out in Game 5.
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This is similar to the Flames, who had an incredible regular season that led fans and analysts to believe they had a chance at winning. However, the Flames only won a single game of the series with a 4-0 victory. After that game, no more than two goals were scored by the Flames.

The responsibility of Calgary losing falls on Coach Bill Peters and the backlash has already begun with both fand and tram investors expressing their disappointment. Peters did all he could to push back against Colorado making multiple line changes in hopes of being more effective. That saw both James Neal and Austin Czarnik moved from the first line to the third and Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot

Colorado came into the series with brute force, never letting their defence or offence break against the Flames. Coach Bill Peters had to deal with the young Avalanche buck Rantanen, failing to do so with his offence, which allowed for Mikko to score a final goal 57 seconds before the end of the third period. The Flames ultimately were out shot 15-9 by the Colorado Avalanche’s and couldn’t handle the breakaways, the defence and the forward offence.

Colorado Avalanche enters the second series thanks to Gaudreau, Wilson, Rantanen, Barrie and MacKinnon. All five players performed at best in their careers, playing a fantastic final game to the first round of the National Hockey League Playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche will now advance to the next round in the playoffs, and with a quick elimination of the Flames, is an ideal team for sports enthusiasts to put their money behind when placing bets with leading sportsbooks such as Bet365. New to the sportsbook?, register today and claim up to $200 in signup bonuses!