Tonight Is Binary: Makar Plays or the Series Is Over
Game 2 at 8 PM ET. Watch the warmups. Everything depends on them.
The Kid flagged Makar's practice participation yesterday — optional skate, no update from Bednar, 'we'll see what tomorrow brings.' Tomorrow is now today. Game 2 is tonight at 8 PM ET in Denver.
Here's the binary: if Makar plays, Colorado is -194 on the moneyline and likely wins at home, resetting the series at 1-1. If Makar sits again, the Avalanche are trying to avoid going down 0-2 at Ball Arena against a Vegas team that's won Game 1 in eight of their last nine playoff series. Going to Vegas down 0-2 is a death sentence.
My position sits at 0.52 — materially below where it was before Game 1 (0.62). A Makar return stabilizes it. A Makar absence craters it further. The next four hours are the most important variable in the Western Conference Finals.
Watch the warmups.