Catch up on Stanley Cup playoffs before Game 4 of Colorado against Minnesota

Catch up on Stanley Cup playoffs before Game 4 of Colorado against Minnesota originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. With the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs in full swing, the competition has been narrowed down to six teams looking to punch their ticket to the conference finals. In the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes advanced to their final after winning all four games on the ice in round two of the playoffs. Now, it’s down to the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres to fight for the chance to compete against Carolina for the conference title. Buffalo has secured one victory out of the three games played against Montreal, with their next matchup set to take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. CDT, with the competition streaming on ESPN. While this game has the chance of either bringing the two teams to a tie or giving Montreal yet another advantage in this year’s playoffs, there’s also some excitement snowballing in the Western Conference. The Anaheim Ducks and Las Vegas Knights tied 2-2 and are heading into their fifth game tomorrow, but tonight, the Colorado Avalanche is set to face off against the Minnesota Wild in its fourth game of the second round of the playoffs. If you’ve been tuned into the Avalanche recently, you’d know that the Wild smashed its six-game postseason win streak out of the water on Saturday. “It just felt like we were on our heels for most of the night,” Avalanche right defenseman Cale Makar said. “It’s gonna happen, but we’ve got to find a different way to respond next game.” Colorado was on track to match, if not best, its program streak record in the playoffs this year, with its longest streak burning through seven games back in the 2022 playoffs, where it last brought home the Stanley Cup as it defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the team may have lost what would have been a chance at yet another program-record postseason streak, it still has a fighting chance to advance to the third round of the playoffs. If they work on improving their response on the ice, then it’s likely Avalanche fans will be cheering Colorado on all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. Tonight’s game will take place at 7 p.m. CDT and will be available to stream on ESPN. More NHL News: