Edmonton at Colorado

Colorado won 8-6 in a wild Game 1 of the Western Conference final and it looked more like an All-Star Game with so much scoring and so little D. Edmonton goalie Mike Smith was pulled after giving up six goals on 25 shots and Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper left the game with an injury. Pavel Francouz replaced Kuemper and will start Game 2 if needed, and he was 15-5-1 with a .255 goals-against average and .916 save percentage with two shutouts in the regular season. Francouz has allowed eight goals in 44 minutes in this year's postseason. The Avalanche has won three of the last four meetings and they are 12-2 versus a team that scored five or more goals its previous game. Colorado is 93-44 its past 137 games playing with one day of rest and 42-16 overall against the Western Conference. If Edmonton starts Mikko Koskinen, he had a 3.10 GAA and .903 save percentage in the regular season and he allowed five goals of Game 1 of the Calgary series. 12 Colorado skaters recorded a point and six had multi-point games on Tuesday night and that kind of offense is too much to overcome for the Oilers. Take the Avalanche.