Postgame Notes & Quotes - Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round, Game 3

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The Avalanche scored three goals in the opening period of a playoff game for the first time since Game 4 of the 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals against Minnesota.
The Avalanche scored five goals in a postseason contest for the first time since Game 1 of its opening-round series against the Minnesota Wild in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs (April 17, 2014).
Gabriel Landeskog finished with three points (1g, 2a), the first three-point postseason performance of his career.

Nathan MacKinnon tallied two goals for his first career multi-goal playoff game and earned his second career postseason game-winning goal. MacKinnon's seven shots are a postseason career high.
Blake Comeau scored his second goal of the postseason, which sets a new career high for goals and points in a single postseason. Comeau previously tallied one goal in the playoffs as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of Pittsburgh's first-round series against the New York Rangers in 2015.
Patrik Nemeth and Mark Barberio each tallied a point in the playoffs for the first time in their careers, Nemeth's coming in his eighth career postseason contest and Barberio's in his sixth.
Mikko Rantanen finished with two assists to pick up his first career postseason multi-point outing.
Colorado's 33 shots is its highest total in the three games of the series so far.
Jonathan Bernier's 29 saves is a postseason career high, topping the 28 saves he made in Game 2 on Saturday.
Gabriel Landeskog's empty-net goal is Colorado's first of the postseason and the fifth of any team in the playoffs.
Nikita Zadorov's six hits is a career postseason high, and matches his total hits from Games 1 and 2 combined.

Colorado LW Blake Comeau

On The Game:"We had a really good start, which we've done this whole series and I felt like we maintained that throughout the whole game. We talked before tonight that we need to clean up a few mistakes that we made when we were in Nashville, couple puck plays, couple of 4-on-4 coverage and things like that, couple changes on the penalty kill. Lot of different contributions from different guys tonight, so it was a huge win."
On Scoring First:"We got the first two goals in Nashville and we ended up losing, but that being said, I like our chances. We're a lot better team when we end up scoring first and we've been really good at home this year. We fed off the crowd's energy tonight and it was a big win. Obviously, we know that going down 0-3 was going to be a huge hill to climb, so to get the first one in our arena is a good step and we have to get ready for the next one."
On The Pace Of Play:"That's something that we talked about after the first and even the second, we're staying aggressive trying to keep the pressure on them. I thought we did a good job of that, we didn't sit back, we generated a lot of good chances and that's going to be key going forward. If we get leads or fall behind in games, we stay aggressive and play to our strengths."
On The Physicality Of The Game:"It's just what we expected. They're a competitive team, they have a lot of competitive guys. That being said, we have the same thing, so we just have to make sure we're staying disciplined. I think it got a little bit too scrumy for our liking, that's not really the way our team's built. Moving forward, we have to make sure we stay disciplined, we don't want to give their power play any opportunity to gain momentum or get any more goals."

Colorado G Jonathan Bernier

On Colorado's Play:"We're confident at home and we use our speed. We create a lot offensively and I thought our backcheck was really good, we didn't pinch for no reason, we didn't give up too many odd-man rushes and we just stuck to our game."
On His Play:"I felt pretty good right off the bat to be honest. Obviously, there's been a lot of goals in the series but some funny bounces. You just got to stay the course and stay on your game and that's all I worry about."
On What Made The Difference In The Game:"I thought we executed our game plan tonight. We wanted to use our speed at home and we did that for the 60 minutes."

Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog

On the team's play:"I thought we came out and really answered the bell and came out with a lot of energy really like we have the first two games as well, but the difference was we stayed on the forecheck and stayed aggressive tonight."
On The Win:"It feels good, no doubt. It was a fun game all the way. We know that they're not going to give up, and we're not going to give up, and obviously in here it means a lot to win and we want to make sure we rest up for Wednesday and then after that we take it one game at a time."
On The Crowd's Energy:"That was awesome. Right from the get-go, right from warmup and skating out there for the anthem, it was awesome. It really exceeded all expectations that we had I think. I kept telling the young guys to wait for the playoffs and just wait to see what this building can do and I think the Avs fans showed that tonight."
On The Game's Physical Play:"It felt like in the second period it was a little too much after the whistle and things like that and we ended up in the penalty box a little too much, whether it was 4-on-4 or what not, but we know that's the way some of their guys want to play. They want to play after the whistle and not in between, and we're kind of the opposite. We're going to try to stay out of that and just kind of keep working hard and whether that gets under their skin or not, it doesn't really matter to us. We're going to keep playing hard and keep playing the way we are."

Colorado Head Coach Jared Bednar

On Game 3:"You're always hoping you can find a way to capitalize on some of your chances and clean up a few of your mistakes. We felt pretty good coming out of those first two games. Our guys were ready to go right from the start tonight, great energy in the building again, fans were awesome. Our guys were energized and we were on our toes and the aggressors early in that game, and it paid off for us."
On Scoring The First Goal:"I thought we stuck with our game longer tonight, like 5-on-5 tonight, we were fantastic, until their late push. But, for 50 minutes, 5-on-5, we were really good. We did a lot of good things, created some chances, scored on our chances. I mean it's big. The guys are confident in what we're doing, you have to get rewarded for your hard work at some point. Now our belief should go up further."
On MacKinnon's Line:"I thought that whole line was great. I thought Mack (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon) was skating really well at the start of the game, dangerous, Landy (Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog) was hard on pucks making all the right plays. Great play on MacK's (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon) breakaway goal; wins a battle on the wall, gets knocked down, gets back up and finds it and has the presence of mind and poise to slip it in the middle to MacK (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon) for the breakaway goal. It was a huge goal for us."
On The Physical Play:"I think both teams are under each other's skin, that's what happens when you play a seven-game series and you're in Game 3 of it. The emotions are high. You get both teams that believe the way they believe and you have to fight for every inch of ice, we have to be smart. In my opinion, we've been the better team 5-on-5. I think we have to make sure that we play that way as much as possible and stay out of all the ticky-tack stuff after the whistle. It doesn't do us any good, it hasn't been us all year, but I like our push back. We want to make sure that we're competing and not getting pushed around when the puck is on the ice, but after the whistle blows, I don't think that stuff does us any good."
On The 5-on-3 In The Second Period:"You put that unit on the ice and for a full two minutes and we did a really nice job there of keeping them out of some scoring areas, a couple big blocks. It's planned for sure, he shot for the far pad, they're shooting for rebounds and loose pucks in front of the net and they got it. But we were able to kill the rest of the penalty off so that was big. But, what was probably more important was building that lead before that point and having the confidence to get back to our game afterwards and not get rattled."
On Even-Strength Play:"I felt like we played Better may not be the best word, but we were equal in they had one more 5-on-5 goal than us, but I thought some of our chances that we created 5-on-5 in their building were really good, we just didn't capitalize on them. I think Rinne made some really quality saves at key times for them. Berns was good, but we didn't get the big save that we needed and tonight we did from Berns and they didn't from Rinne. That has a lot to do with it. A guy capitalizes on the chance, and you feel like you're better 5-on-5. A guy doesn't capitalize and they do, and you feel like maybe you are not as good. So I think it's a fine line, and just looking and studying the game, I think it's been real equal, and we were able to capitalize on our chances tonight."
On MacKinnon's Play At Home:"I think he thrives on the energy in the building, I think he gets up for it. He is just so explosive at home. He's dangerous every time he touches the puck at home, and he's focused. For 40 minutes of that game, he was dominant for me."
On How Playing At Pepsi Center Affects Nashville:"It doesn't help them certainly, our guys feed off it, there is no question. I think you know the home team, you're playing in packed, loud buildings, energized buildings, the home team is going to come out and have a good start. But how long can you sustain that start? Is it five minutes, is it 10, is it 20, and tonight I thought we did it for the better part of 40 minutes."
On Nashville's Chippy Play:"I think you got to deal with some of that, there's certain things that I don't like that's happened there. I'd like to see them call it but I thought they did a good job of calling the original penalties and taking one guy instead of letting it get out of hand and always taking two. They wanted to stop the scrums and they started taking one guy off the ice and you have no choice as players to play through some of that stuff if they miss it."
On Colorado's Power Play:"I think it was better tonight. I liked the fluidity to our power play in the second period, we had a bunch of good looks in there, especially the one power play we were in there, I think those guys were on for almost a minute and 40 seconds and we had some real good chances. We started shooting the puck more and attacking and picking pucks up and attacking out of chaos. I think we'll study that and look at that and hopefully we can continue to build off that power play and look at some things that helped us there."