Calgary @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 13, 2019 ) Colorado 3, Calgary 2

No team was more resilient down the stretch than the Colorado Avalanche, who rode an 8-0-2 surge to secure the second wild card in the Western Conference. The eighth-seeded Avalanche again showed their mettle in earning a split in Calgary and head home with a chance to seize the lead in their first-round series against the Flames on Monday night.

Leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon scored in overtime as Colorado rebounded from a 4-0 setback to the Western Conference champions in Game 1 with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night. "That's the least we came here for. We would've liked to win both games, but a 1-1 split, we'll take that," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "Now it's a matter of us coming home and repeating this effort. We're not going to sit back. It's right back to preparing for Monday." The top-seeded Flames, who had a conference-high 26 home wins, surrendered the tying goal with just over 3 1/2 minutes to play and had a four-game winning streak against the Avalanche snapped. “If anyone thought in here that we were going to sweep this team, we got another thing coming for us," netminder Mike Smith said after Calgary absorbed its ninth straight Game 2 defeat. "It’s going to be a long series and you have to prepare yourself for that."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, CNBC, CBC, TVAS2 (Calgary), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE FLAMES: Captain Mark Giordano offered a simple assessment -- “We have to be better" -- after Colorado enjoyed the better of the play in Game 2 but his teammates were not putting too much stock into one loss. "We're fine. We're not hitting the panic button or anything," said forward Sam Bennett, who set up both goals to give him three assists in the series. "We're a good team, we all believe in each other. It's just a matter of getting that start and being more prepared." Smith made 36 saves Saturday and has turned aside 62 of 65 shots in the series.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE: MacKinnon, the top overall pick in the 2013 draft who set career highs with 41 goals and 99 points during the regular season, beat Smith with a laser to the top right corner to send the series back to Colorado tied. "I've said it before: Nate's a superstar and that's what superstars do," linemate Landeskog said of MacKinnon, who also registered seven shots on goal and played nearly 26 1/2 minutes. Second-leading scorer Mikko Rantanen, who missed the final eight games of the regular season, had a pair of assists -- including on the game-winner.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado is 0-for-8 on the power play in the series.

2. Flames C Sean Monahan scored in the third period Saturday, his eighth goal in 17 playoff contests.

3. The Avalanche signed D Cale Makar, the Hobey Baker Award winner out of the University of Massachusetts.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Flames 2