5 Keys: Sharks at Avalanche, Game 4

SHARKS at AVALANCHE
10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS
San Jose leads best-of-7 series 2-1
The San Jose Sharks will try to take a 3-1 series lead against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Pepsi Center on Thursday.

Teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have won the series 90.5 percent of the time (277-29).
RELATED: [Complete Sharks vs. Avalanche series coverage]
The Sharks are 10-1 in series they have taken a 3-1 lead. The Avalanche are 0-4 in series they have fallen behind 3-1.
Here are 5 keys to Game 4:

1. Stop the rush

The Sharks did not allow many rush chances in their 4-2 win in Game 3. A glaring exception: A goal by Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon that came after Sharks defenseman Brent Burns had a stretch pass intercepted in the neutral zone.
Not only do the Sharks want to keep the Avalanche from using their speed and skill, they want to force them into mistakes.

2. Manage the puck

When the Sharks clogged the neutral zone in Game 3, the Avalanche did not respond well in the first and second periods. Coach Jared Bednar was blunt about their puck play.
"It was bad," Bednar said. "Our execution was poor, and our support was poor. We just didn't make the right decisions with the puck in the neutral zone."
The Avalanche did a better job of taking what they were given in the third period.
"I think you can't just live and die by the rush," forward Alex Kerfoot said. "I think they're doing a really good job of getting guys above the puck and they're limiting our chances. We can't be so stubborn with the puck. We've got to get it deep."

3. Forecheck

The Sharks have Burns, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on defense. The Avalanche have Tyson Barrie, Samuel Girard and Cale Makar.
"We've got to forecheck those [defensemen] and force them to play hard minutes in their own end," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "I'm sure you go into their room and ask them, they're going to give you the same answer."
Yep.
"If you're making Burns and Karlsson turn and have to go back for pucks, then it's harder for them to get up in the rush and create offense," Kerfoot said. "By the third period [of Game 3], it looked like they were a little bit tired. They were flipping some pucks out into the neutral zone."

4. Challenge Makar

Makar has flashed his talent in the playoffs and has four points (one goal, three assists) in six games. But he's still a 20-year-old who is 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, and jumped into the postseason straight out of college.
He has a lot to learn against a veteran Sharks team that can be tough to handle physically.
"There's a couple goals against that he's been on for where there's net-front battles," Bednar said. "He's still trying to figure out what he can get away with in front of the net when he's defending. We're trying to give him as much advice there as we can, because you can get away with a lot this time of the year."

5. Keep the pedal down

This is a bigger game than it looks for the Sharks in terms of winning four rounds.
They survived a seven-game, first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, and they're beaten up. Now they have a chance to set up a close-out scenario at home in Game 5 on Saturday.
A short series could help considerably. Forward Joe Pavelski, their captain, hasn't played since he was injured in Game 7 against Vegas but is skating on his own.
"These, for me, are the crossroad-type games where you can really take control of a series if you can come up and not take your foot off the gas," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "And that's got to be on us."
Sharks projected lineup
Timo Meier -- Logan Couture - Gustav Nyquist
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Lukas Radil
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Micheal Haley -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Dylan Gambrell, Tim Heed, Radim Simek, Antti Suomela.
Injured: Joe Pavelski (undisclosed), Joonas Donskoi (undisclosed)
Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon - Alexander Kerfoot
Colin Wilson -- Carl Soderberg - Mikko Rantanen
Matt Calvert -- J.T. Compher -- Matt Nieto
Gabriel Bourque -- Tyson Jost -- Derick Brassard
Samuel Girard -- Cale Makar
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Ian Cole -- Erik Johnson
Philipp Grubauer
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched: Sven Andrighetto, Mark Barberio, Ryan Graves, Vladislav Kamenev, Patrik Nemeth
Injured: None
Status report
DeBoer said he "heard good, positive things" but didn't have details regarding Pavelski, who was scheduled to skate in San Jose on Wednesday. Pavelski and Donskoi will each miss their fourth straight game. … Calvert is expected to play after missing Game 3 with an upper-body injury.
---
Listen: New episode of NHL Fantasy on Ice podcast