Avs Aim to Play to Their Identity in Game 3

Game 3 is one of the most important contests in a best-of-seven series. Winning that outing can give the team a boost in advancing in the playoffs, while the loser might have a deeper hole to try and get out of.
A victory tonight for the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights would give the club a stranglehold in the second-round matchup with it already up 2-0 in the set after winning both contests on home ice. For the Knights, a win gets them on the board with a chance to even the series on Sunday.
Teams that hold a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven set own an all-time record of 194-4 (.988) in NHL history, while squads up 2-1 have an all-time mark of 366-156 (.655).

"Game 3 is always an important game. It doesn't matter if you're up 2-0 or down 2-0 or tied 1-1, it's a big game in the series," said Avs head coach Jared Bednar after morning skate in Las Vegas. "We've played pretty well in here at times this year, and our guys are confident that we can come in and play our game."
Colorado won Game 1 by a 7-1 score last Sunday and followed it up with a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Avs liked their starts in both outings, but Bednar is looking for his group to continue playing to their identity after getting away from their game in the last 40 minutes in the previous contest.
Still, the Avalanche found a way to win Game 2 with Mikko Rantanen scoring the winning marker at 2:07 of overtime.
"We've been pretty good here in the first periods in the last two games, and we got to find a way to put a full 60 together," Bednar said. "But the start is definitely something we'll key on because catch-up hockey is losing hockey, and it's important for us to come out and establish our game right away, especially after the way we played in the last 40 minutes the other night."
Colorado will be playing in front of its largest crowd in 16 months as T-Mobile Arena will be at near capacity with 17,000-plus people expected to be in the building this evening, creating an opportunity for the players to play spoiler in front of the rowdy Vegas crowd.
"For me, I always think it's a lot of fun to come and play here," said forward Andre Burakovsky. "It's a good atmosphere, it's always loud and the crowd is always into it. Same thing at home with us. That is what playoff hockey is all about, the experience, the game, the atmosphere, everything about it. It's a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to it tonight."
The Avalanche can have that same advantage in its own barn if it is able to advance to the next round for the Stanley Cup Semifinals, as Ball Arena has been approved to host full capacity by the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
But first, the team needs to get two more wins.

LINEUP NOTES

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has won six games in a row in these playoffs and can set the franchise record for the longest winning streak in the postseason this evening. Overall, Grubauer has won 10 consecutive decisions dating back to last year, becoming the 10th goalie in NHL history to have such a stretch (spanning postseasons or otherwise).
Head coach Jared Bednar did not give any lineup details, so the exact forward combinations and defensive pairings likely won't be known until warmup.
Forward Logan O'Connor is making progress from his lower-body injury and has joined team skates recently, first with the Black Aces and now with the main group, but there is no definite timeline for his return to the lineup.
"He is still not ready to go even though he's now joined the team skates, so we're going to work on him here and hopefully get him ready to go as soon as possible," Bednar said. "I think he's a guy with his speed and tenacity on pucks that can help us. We know he's had a great regular season for us, but he's just not ready to go as of yet."
View: Avalanche vs. Golden Knights Game 3 Projected Lineup

NOTEWORTHY

The Avalanche owns a 6-0 record this postseason, which is tied for the franchise's longest winning streak at any point in a playoff year as the Quebec Nordiques also had a six-game run in 1987. Colorado can become the 12th team in NHL history to earn victories in each of its first seven or more contests from the start of a postseason and first since Pittsburgh in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs (7-0).
The Avs/Quebec Nordiques own a record of 19-26 (.422) in Game 3 of best-of-seven series, while the Golden Knights are 7-2 (.778).
When Colorado takes a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series, the club holds an all-time series record of 5-0 (1.000); it is 14-7 (0.667) when leading 2-1. The Golden Knights face a 2-0 deficit for the first time in franchise history; they hold an all-time record of 0-2 in a best of seven series when trailing 2-1.
Brandon Saad can become the first active player to record a goal streak of six or more games in the playoffs. Only six different players in the last 30 years have registered a postseason goal streak of that length: Claude Lemieux (seven in 1997 with Colorado), Mario Lemieux (seven in 1991 & 1996 with Pittsburgh), Joe Sakic (seven in 1996 with Colorado), Pat LaFontaine (seven in 1992 with Buffalo), Martin Havlat (six in 2006 with Ottawa) and Kirk Muller (six in 1993 with Montreal).

ONE TIMERS

Head coach Jared Bednar on playing in front of a full building tonight: "I mean a year after no fans, the crowd is awesome. It doesn't matter if you're playing at home, obviously we love playing at home in front of our group, and if you're playing on the road in a hostile environment where they're cheering and screaming and rooting against you, I think it's equally as fun. It's part of the competition, and it's why they love to play. The fans make it a fun game and an entertaining game."
Forward Andre Burakovsky on his line in Game 2: "I think it was better than the first game we had. We were skating, we tried to create. There is not a lot of room out there, you need to find ways to get the puck to the net and win the battles. I think we can still be a little bit more aggressive on the forecheck and win more puck battles. We're looking forward to doing that today. We talked about it, and we got to come in and be a difference-maker."
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth on the Avs' success in the first two games of the series: "I think Game 1 we were tracking back really hard, I think we were five guys on the puck and played with a lot of pace. I thought our first period in the second game we were playing with the same mentality."