LOS ANGELES -- Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Nicolas Roy and Devon Toews scored in the third period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 5-1 victory in Game 4 on Sunday.
Cale Makar also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves as the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avs ended the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who announced in September he would retire at season's end.
"It just shows that we kind of stuck to all of the little details this entire series," Makar said of the sweep. "And I felt like they were pushing us at times, and we were able to weather it. It's a good test for us. That is a stingy defensive team over there."
Wedgewood concurred.
"They were going to come hard early, and we weathered it," Wedgewood said of the Kings' pace of play in the first period. "We were able to hold them to limited chances. ... I'm proud of the way we defended."
With a masterful four-game demonstration of the deep talent on a team built to win it all, Colorado advanced to face the winner of the heavyweight first-round series between Dallas and Minnesota. Those clubs are tied heading to Game 5 on Tuesday, meaning the Avalanche will get at least five consecutive days off before the second round, and quite possibly more.
Until then, MacKinnon and the Avalanche will prepare. The Colorado first-line center, according to ESPN Research, produced his 15th career playoff game with three or more points, which is three games shy of the franchise record.
Colorado played Game 4 without defenseman Josh Manson, who sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Game 3 on Friday night. In his place, Nick Blankenburg made his playoff debut and slotted into Colorado's third defense pairing, alongside Brent Burns.
"It was a tight series," Burns said. "It was four tight games against a good team. Every inch was earned."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
