Rapid Recap: Coyotes 4, Avalanche 2 (Game 3)

The Arizona Coyotes survived the Colorado Avalanche's pressure in the third period and picked up their first win in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Goalie Darcy Kuemper made 49 saves, matching his personal record for a game (regular season or playoffs), to lift the Coyotes to the 4-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Colorado outshot Arizona 51-23, including by a 31-11 margin in the final two periods of play. The Avalanche leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 after picking up a 3-0 win on Wednesday and a 3-2 victory on Friday.

Andre Burakovsky scored for the Avalanche with 7:48 left in the second period that tied the game at 1-1 at the time, and Mikko Rantanen tallied late in the third to cut the Yotes' lead to 3-2. Samuel Girard, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar had assists in the game.
Goaltender Pavel Francouz started the second half of the back-to-back set for Colorado, making 19 saves in his debut in the series.
Derek Stepan opened the game's scoring in the first period for the Coyotes, and Brad Richardson gave them a 2-1 advantage after tallying with 34 second remaining in the middle frame. Taylor Hall and Lawson Crouse added empty-net markers in the last 80 seconds of regulation.
The Avalanche was playing its 200th playoff game since moving to Denver in 1995 and is now 113-87 in postseason games.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Postgame Notes
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Video: Coach Bednar
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Video: Francouz, Landeskog & Rantanen

THE GOALS

1st Period
6:29 ARI (0-1) - Derek Stepan snapped a shot in the low slot after taking a pass from behind the net from Clayton Keller to give the Coyotes their first lead in the series.
2nd Period
13:12 COL (1-1) - As a Colorado power play expired, Andre Burakovsky's shot from the point went off several Arizona players before finding twine.
19:26 ARI (1-2) - Brad Richardson scored with a short-side shot from the left circle after taking a cross-ice pass from Conor Garland.
3rd Period
18:40 ARI (1-3) - ENG, Taylor Hall scored after shooting the puck into an the empty net from the neutral zone.
19:03 COL (2-3) - Mikko Rantanen's shot deflected off a skate and in to cut thee Avs' deficit to one.
19:55 ARI (2-4) - ENG, Lawson Crouse placed the puck into the open net to seal the win.
Final: Coyotes - 4 | Avalanche - 2

3 STARS

1. Darcy Kuemper (ARI): Tied a career high with 49 saves
2. Conor Garland (ARI): Assist and four shots on goal
3. Nathan MacKinnon (COL): Assist, seven shots on goal and won 9-of-15 faceoffs

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 3
Arizona: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Pavel Francouz played his second game of the postseason and made 19-of-21 saves.
Arizona: Darcy Kuemper tied his career high for saves in a game by stopping 49 of the 51 shots he faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Colorado finished with 51 shots, the sixth time since the club moved to Denver that it has recorded 50 or more shots in a postseason contest. The most recent occurrence was in Game 4 of the first round against the Calgary Flames last season (April 17, 2019).

NOTEBOOK

Andre Burakovsky scored in back-to-back postseason games for the second time in his career and the first time since May 6-8, 2017 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins while a member of the Washing Capitals… Burakovsky leads the team in the playoffs with three goals, which also matches his career high for a single postseason (2017 with Washington)… Ian Cole appeared in his 80th career game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs… Each of the Avs' games during the postseason have been played in the afternoon, with the team now owning a 4-1-1 record. Colorado went 4-0-0 in day games during the regular season… The Avs wrapped up their 20th all-time back-to-back set in the playoffs and are now 10-10 in the second game. The club owns a 1-4 record in the first game and a 3-2 mark in the second of consecutive-day sets in the postseason since moving to Colorado in 1995… With an assist, Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to six games, joining Joe Sakic (4x; last: 2004), Peter Forsberg (3x; last: 2004), Milan Hejduk (2001), Sandis Ozolinsh (2000) and Michel Goulet (1985) as the only players in franchise history to open the postseason with a six-game run. Forsberg (seven games) and Sakic (six) were the last Avs players to do it in 2004… Cale Makar is on a three-game assist/point streak (three assists) and set new playoff career highs with seven shots on goal and 25:42 of ice time… His seven shots are the most ever by a rookie defenseman in franchise history and the second most by a first-year Avs/Nordiques player at any position (Chris Drury, 9, May 28, 1999 vs. Dallas).

QUOTABLE

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar on the team's offensive play in Game 3: "That was probably the best night we've had in the O-zone of the series. Not just spending time, but I'm guessing also creating opportunities and using our legs and, you know, taking space when it's available, pretty good execution tonight."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

MacK brings the boom!

ROSTER REPORT

Joonas Donskoi returned to lineup after missing Game 2. He began the contest on a line with Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin… Pavel Francouz started in net for the first time this series, playing his first game since round-robin play on Aug. 5 against the Dallas Stars.

INJURY UPDATE

Vladislav Namestnikov missed his first contest of the postseason after getting hurt in and not being able to finish Game 2 on Friday.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche and Coyotes meet in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round on Monday at 3:30 p.m. MT.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
72 Joonas Donskoi - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 17 Tyson Jost
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
39 Pavel Francouz (starter)
31 Philipp Grubauer (backup)