The Avalanche will face the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-7 series will be at Winnipeg on Sunday.
“Every single year, the goal is to win a championship. And especially with the group that we have, there shouldn't be a doubt in anybody's mind that we're capable of doing that,” Makar said. “We have a group where you got to do everything right from the back end up. It's got to start with us, and we got to make sure that everybody plays their individual role to their perfection and as best of their abilities. Obviously, you don't want to settle for anything less than that, and for us, we got to take it step by step here.”
Dylan Holloway scored for the Oilers (49-27-6), who lost four of their final five (1-3-1) and finished in second place in the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard at the start of the second period. Pickard made 14 saves in relief.
The Oilers did not play their top seven scorers: forwards Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evander Kane, and defensemen Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm.
“I think the first 10 minutes we were a little bit starstruck or just paralyzed, just trying to make the perfect play. We weren't moving our feet,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We were overthinking and ultimately we're just defending, and they were making plays and they really took it to us in the first 10 minutes.”
The Oilers will face the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 will be at Edmonton on Monday.
“For us it doesn't really matter [who we play],” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “I think at the end of the year, there's so many good teams that make the playoffs, and you got to beat everybody to put yourself in a position to compete in the end. So it doesn't matter who you play.”