DENVER (AP) 鈥� The signs appear grim for the Colorado Avalanche: home losses. . Three goals in the series for the highest scoring team in the league. Heading to Vegas. History working against them.
鈥淲e dug a hole,鈥� forward Logan O鈥機onnor said as the Game 3 at Vegas on Sunday night in the Western Conference Final. 鈥淚t鈥檚 on us (to get out).”
The odds, though, are stacked against them. Since 1982, road teams that have gone 2-0 in the conference finals have a 13-0 series record, according to NHL Stats.
But the Avalanche have worked their way back from a similarly dicey situation before in a playoff series.
Granted, it was 27 years ago when they lost two straight at home to start the 1999 Western Conference semifinals against Detroit before rallying to win.
鈥淯phill climb,鈥� Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood said. 鈥淲e have to flip the script on them, in their rink.鈥�
Perhaps a change of scenery can provide a spark. Colorado went 2-0 at Vegas in the regular season, including a 6-5 shootout victory.
鈥淎ny building you go into, you can kind of use the crowd noise and advantage in your favor,鈥� forward Parker Kelly said. 鈥淭eams come out hard in their home building, so we鈥檝e got to be able to weather the storm, push back and get to our game quick.鈥�
It wasn’t that long ago when Vegas overcame some long odds. The Golden Knights trailed Colorado 2-0 in a second-round series in 2021, only to win four straight. Avalanche forward recalls it well 鈥� he was with the Golden Knights back then.
鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to put on our work boots,鈥� Roy said. 鈥淚f you have a great effort next game and you win it, then obviously shift the momentum. We believe in this group.鈥�
Colorado very well could have back Makar, who is up for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. He has been sidelined all series by an upper-body injury.
鈥淗e will tell us when he鈥檚 ready to play,鈥� Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. 鈥淣o one can go into Cale鈥檚 body and feel what he鈥檚 feeling, so when he feels like he can do all the things he needs to be able to do on the ice to play, then he鈥檚 going to make the decision to play.鈥�
The vibe in the room is some anger mixed with some frustration, Bednar said.
鈥淲hich I think is normal. It鈥檚 all fine,鈥� said Bednar, whose team is outshooting the Golden Knights by a 68-53 margin. “We鈥檝e got to be better than we were in Game 1 and 2. It鈥檚 not like we didn鈥檛 go and compete hard or play harder, but again, with it being such a fine line, a mistake or two can cost you the hockey game. We need to do a little bit better job of forcing them into a few more mistakes, and we have to clean up some of our own.鈥�
Some of Colorado’s top scorers have struggled against the Golden Knights’ stingy defense. Only captain Gabriel Landeskog, Ross Colton and Valeri Nichushkin have goals on Carter Hart in the series. Nathan MacKinnon, who had a league-leading 53 goals in the regular season, has been neutralized, along with 100-point scorer Martin Necas. Another dependable offensive contributor, Brock Nelson, is a minus-5 in the series.
鈥淚f I felt like we played our best game in Game 1 and our best game in Game 2 and we lost, I鈥檇 be a little bit more like, 鈥極h, I鈥檓 really worried about this,鈥欌�� Bednar said. “They still haven鈥檛 seen our best, and maybe we haven鈥檛 seen their best, either. We have a number of areas in our game that we can improve for Game 3 to give us a better chance of winning.鈥�
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