The first of May, or May Day, has a couple of ancient associations. For the ancient Celts and regions surrounding, it was a Spring festival, a time to celebrate the coming of another bountiful season. In 1800’s Midwest USA, it is much more associated with labor rights and the social strife and attacks that came in some pivotal battles around it. For some, it’s a day of celebration and renewal. For others, a day to commemorate and mourn. It was May Day everywhere on Thursday, but seemed to be especially so in Colorado, as the NHL and NBA Gods gave Denver sports faithful reasons to celebrate and mourn alike. And yet they both will live to play another pivotal day.
The Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets, like twin heartbeats of the Mile High sports scene, are taking the long way to get it done. Both played Game 6s on Thursday night. One at home. One on the road. One sweating until the last second, then renewing their chances with a roar. The other walking through a litany of errors, and falling just short of turning it around. And now, with the weight of a season pressing on their backs and the expectations of a city on their shoulders, both teams are set to face Game 7s this weekend, in series so compelling that the long road somehow always felt inevitable.
Because really—how else could it have worked out?
The Avs took the ice at Ball Arena looking like a team that needed to save their scintillating season. After a dramatic series that has included blowouts and overtimes losses so narrow they could give you tunnel vision, Colorado and Dallas both put together a performance in Game 6 that left watchers breathless. The Avs played as if they’d been shot out of a cannon the first period, gaining a 2-0 lead and looking like they’d carry the night. Old teammate Mikko Rantanen has something to say about it in the second period, scoring four points to take the Stars to a 4-3 lead headed to the final stretch. And then a Val Nischuskin goal and seeing-eye blunder by Dallas that gave Nathan MacKinnon his oddest-ever goal put Colorado back on top. Mackenzie blackwood turned around a tough second period and stood tall for the Avs in the third as they put away a couple empty-netters to seal the deal.
This series hasn’t let either team get comfortable. Each game has been a different flavor of mayhem, with just enough weird bounces to make you question whether physics works differently in the playoffs. But from the moment you knew it would be Avs/Stars, this thing started pulling itself toward a Game 7 like it was written in some sacred Denver sports contract.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets were in L.A. facing a different kind of chaos. The Clippers, still trying to make sense of their own cursed legacy, came out swinging. James Harden looked as good as he had in Game 1. Kawhi Leonard was again hitting contested mid-rangers like it was 2017, and even Norm Powell got in on the fun, with most of the rest of the team keeping stride.
It wasn’t as if the Nuggets wilted away, so much as just could never quite catch up. L.A.’s lead vacillated, but Denver’s last gasp turned out to be too little, too late, and with too many unforced errors along the way. This incredible series has usually seen wins by the team making the fewest errors, and Game 6 was no exception. While Denver looks to have every chance to win this winner-takes-all contest, they could just as easily have painted themselves into a corner with another lengthy playoff series.
What tipped it? The usual avalanche of small things. Too many turnovers. Too many misses. Too many defensive mistakes in critical moments.
And so, Denver returns home, where they’re still dangerous, but have been less solid than in years past.
If the Avalanche can win Game 7 in Dallas, they’ll have exorcised the ghosts of early inconsistency and multiple exits against the Stars. If the Nuggets take care of business at home, they’ll find themselves matched against the Western Conference’s buzzsaw—and yet still a champion still worth fearing, no matter how choppy the road.
And while the games themselves have been (mostly) gripping, it’s the way they’ve unfolded that makes this double-Game 7 scenario so frustratingly perfect. Both series have featured genuinely elite competition. Haymakers. Miracles. Stumbles. No gimmicks, no endless drama—just talented rosters trading punches in two of the best playoff matchups in recent memory. As all the national oohing and aahing will tell you, you didn’t have to be a Colorado fan to love these games, but if you are one, you’ve likely been pacing your living room like a coach without a clipboard. Or a goalie without a stick.
There’s a symmetry to all of this that feels too insanely on point to ignore. Two teams, sharing an arena, sharing a city, sharing MVPs, and now sharing a timeline. Both trying to reclaim recent crowns. Both on Saturday. Both fighting off elimination, both surviving long enough to make the story worth telling. Even the schedules lined up—Four of their seven games were on the same days, two (so far) at the same time. The dichotomy is thick in the air, and now we wait with no fingernails left to see what comes next.
Of course, sports can be cruel. Only one team might advance. Maybe neither does. Maybe we get so lucky as to get to Game Seventh Heaven with a Win/Win sort of a day. However it lands, for one glorious weekend, Denver sports fans get to believe. Get to win-to-stay-in mainline some adrenaline, in hopes of two still-hopefully deep playoff runs unfolding side by side. Get to dream about lifting trophies and sipping parade beers in June.
Because really—how else could it have worked out? Strap yourselves in for hell of a weekend, DNVR faithful. Who do you have playing into the next round?
