Change is inevitable for the last-place Colorado Avalanche, but Joe Sakic says the overhaul of the team's roster this offseason is likely to be significant nonetheless.

"There's going to be a lot of turnover and we're going to get some younger guys in here," the general manager told Altitude Sports Radio on Tuesday. "We're expecting to be a quicker team and a much more competitive team."

The Avalanche were anything but competitive this season, posting a mere 48 points and compiling the worst record since the 1999-2000 Atlanta Thrashers.

Colorado does have some encouraging young forwards in the fold, with Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher debuting for the club in 2016-17, while Mikko Rantanen excelled in his first full NHL season.

On defense, Sakic said the Avalanche are hopeful they'll soon be able to announce the signing of KHL defenseman Andrei Mironov, who was drafted in the fourth round by Colorado in 2015.

The availability of both Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog was no secret this season, and while trades remain possible, Sakic says the free-agent market is one avenue the Avalanche won't be exploring.

"We're not going to be players in free agency," the GM said. "We want to grow our kids, keep the youth movement going and try and develop and have them grow together."

- With h/t to Sportsnet

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Game 7. Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. In the words of Bob Cole: "Oh, baby!"

The Caps were left for dead after falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, but they're alive, and now have a chance to exorcise some demons - as major as hockey demons get, really - on home ice.

Here's the tale of the tape after six games:

Cast your vote:

Faceoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET. Enjoy.

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The Ottawa Senators advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2007 with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of their second-round series Tuesday night. Needless to say, Senators fans were pretty pumped about the whole thing.

With the team moving on to the next round, fans took to the streets in Ottawa to engage in a wild round of celebrations, but they made sure to do so without inconveniencing motorists by waiting until red lights to party.

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The New York Rangers will spend the rest of the postseason on the sidelines, and forward Derek Stepan was quick to criticize his own play in the second-round loss to the Ottawa Senators.

"Individually, I'm disappointed and ashamed and flat out embarrassed," Stepan told Dan Rosen of NHL.com after the Game 6 defeat. "It kills me that I was not able to find my game."

Related: - Stepan: 'I've stunk since the playoffs started'

Stepan was held off the scoresheet in Tuesday's 4-2 loss, registering a minus-2 rating in 20:43 of ice time.

Through 12 playoff contests, Stepan recorded six points, with a goal and three assists coming in Round 2 against the Senators.

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The Ottawa Senators are off to the conference finals, and it's a moment to be celebrated, says coach Guy Boucher.

"Let's not kid ourselves, this is a big accomplishment," Boucher told TSN's Brent Wallace following Tuesday's victory that eliminated the New York Rangers.

It's a slight change of tune for the Senators coach, who has long proclaimed his team as the underdog in an effort to keep his squad's focus on the ice.

The Senators eliminated the Rangers in Game 6 of their second-round series, punching their ticket with a 4-2 victory at Madison Square Garden.

After knocking off the Bruins and Rangers, the Senators are one of three teams left standing in the East. Their next opponent will be determined Wednesday, when the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins face off in Game 7.

Tuesday's victory paved the way for Ottawa's first trip to the conference finals since 2007, and just its third visit there in franchise history, after also doing so in 2003.

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Poor King Hank.

For the 11th time in his 12-year career, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was forced to face the media after being bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tuesday night was more of the same: questions about what went wrong, how he can improve, and what happens next - queries that are all too familiar for the 35-year-old.

"Obviously losing all three up in Ottawa where we had a chance to win a couple, (I think) it hurt us big time in this series," Lundqvist said when asked about the reason for New York's series defeat.

"We just didn't get it done."

The sharply dressed, guitar-playing 'tender was especially candid when asked about whether he had anyone to blame but himself.

"Sometimes it's not about playing your best game," Lundqvist said. "It's about finding a way to win games and they did that better than we did."

There's always next season; Lundqvist still has four years and $34 million left on his current deal.

So, barring a significant injury or an unforeseen trade, the Rangers' all-time leader in wins (405) will be occupying the blue paint when New York attempts another Cup run next season.

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The Ottawa Senators are off to the final four.

They'll know who they face in the next round shortly, as the winner of Wednesday's Game 7 between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins will go toe to toe with the Senators in Round 3.

After Ottawa's Game 6 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday, we ask you: Which team do the Senators have a better chance of defeating next round?

The Senators have advanced to the conference finals twice previously, doing so in 2007 and 2003.

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The Washington Capitals have been here before.

Holding destiny in their hands with the opportunity to advance to the conference finals with one more win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Wednesday night in D.C. presents the Capitals with a huge opportunity to silence their haters.

Beating the Penguins would obviously be sweet enough. But, more importantly, what would be even tastier is the prospect of facing the Ottawa Senators in the next round.

All due respect to the Senators - who have had a storybook year - but the fact remains: they are a club that Washington matches up very well with on paper.

The Caps were 2-1 in three regular-season games this past campaign against Ottawa. That number certainly doesn't jump of the page, and, realistically, it doesn't mean jack unless Washington can step up in Game 7 and get the job done against Pittsburgh.

Seriously, though, how long have we been waiting for the Capitals to turn the page?

Each year since Alex Ovechkin entered the league in 2005, Washington - to some degree - has been pegged with lofty expectations. Expectations it has never fulfilled

Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk, Braden Holtby - the talented list goes on. Most teams would kill to have those kinds of players.

Nevertheless, this is the situation that Barry Trotz and his club are in.

Win, and move on to the conference finals for the first time since 1998. Lose, and who knows what happens next. Blow the team up? Trade Ovechkin? Fire Trotz?

All of those scenarios seem wild, if not foolish, but what other options does general manager Brian MacLellan realistically have after giving this core group more than enough talent to work with year in and year out.

MacLellan's unrestricted free-agent list is lengthy and star-studded, with names like Justin Williams, Oshie, and Shattenkirk set to potentially move elsewhere.

Just another wrinkle in this narrative - the pressure is clearly on Washington to win now.

Wednesday's Game 7 between these two clubs is primed to be the best game of the playoffs, so far. But it also offers hockey fans the best chance to see exactly what the Washington Capitals are made of.

For better, or for worse.

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