3 Things to Watch: Avalanche at Golden Knights, Game 3 of Western Final

(1C) Colorado Avalanche at (1P) Vegas Golden Knights

Western Conference Final, Game 3

Vegas leads best-of-7 series 2-0

8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights have an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

The Golden Knights return home after winning each of the first two games, 4-2 and 3-1, at Ball Arena in Denver, where the Avalanche were previously 5-0 in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Here’s some perspective on how much history is on Vegas’ side:

Teams with a 2-0 lead in a NHL best-of-7 series are 365-58 all-time. This postseason, each of the five that took a 2-0 lead advanced. If that’s not enough of a dire outlook for the Avalanche, consider teams that opened a conference final or League semifinal series by taking the first two on the road are 20-1. Only the 1945 Detroit Red Wings managed to rally.

But as forward Nicolas Roy said, Colorado will have to put its “work boots on” and take it game by game.

Teams that take a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-7 semifinal hold an all-time series record of 49-0, including 13-0 when starting on the road.

“It’s big, obviously, getting two on the road, but it’s far from over and we know that,” Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “It’s a long series. They’re a great team over there, and we’ve got to stay even keel.”

The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing first in the NHL during the regular season (55-16-11, 121 points). They entered Game 2 of this series 45-0-0 when leading after the second period in the regular season and playoffs combined.

But those stats mattered little to the Golden Knights, who erased a one-goal deficit with three straight goals in the third period Friday to put themselves in the driver's seat heading home.

Each team missed key cogs in the first two games.

For Colorado, defenseman Cale Makar has been out with an upper-body injury and is questionable Sunday. He was on the ice for an optional skate and took reps with the first power-play unit prior to Game 2 but missed his second straight game. For Vegas, captain Mark Stone took part in an optional skate Saturday and could return at some point in this series. The forward has been out with a lower-body injury since Game 3 of the second round against the Anaheim Ducks.

Here are three things to watch in Game 3:

1. Learn from the past

The Golden Knights have been in this position before, and it hasn’t always gone their way.

In their 2024 first round, Vegas won the first two games at the Dallas Stars, much like they did at Colorado in this series.

It didn’t end well. The Golden Knights lost Games 3 and 4 here and ultimately dropped the series in seven games.

Something to lean on?

“It's good to have that experience,” center William Karlsson said. “Obviously, that was a huge letdown after coming home with two wins on the road, so definitely learn from that.”

2. Where are Colorado’s stars?

Yes, not having Makar has been a significant blow for the Avalanche through the first two games.

Even so, it’s time for some other big names -- aside from the usually dynamic Nathan MacKinnon -- to step up. But even he could use a boost.

Colorado scored a total of three goals in the two games at home. MacKinnon did not play a role in either of the 5-on-5 goals scored by the Avalanche.

Martin Necas, MacKinnon’s wing on the top line, also needs to get going. Necas, who had 100 points (38 goals, 62 assists) during the regular season, has zero points, five shots on goal, four penalty minutes and is minus-4 through the first two games.

“So far in the series, they’re outproducing our top guys,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t know for sure that they’re outplaying them, but that’s part of it.”

3. Taking advantage of T-Mobile

The Golden Knights are 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena this postseason, a rare example of success for a home team in a postseason that has seen the road team have the upper hand. Road teams are 38-33 entering Sunday.

For Vegas, the recipe for success is simple -- win two of three at home in this series, and it’ll punch a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time since entering the NHL for the 2017-18 season.

“We’ve got to come home and really take advantage of this home ice and dig in,” Hanifin said. “Game 3’s going to be huge.”

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Ross Colton -- Nazem Kadri -- Nicolas Roy

Artturi Lekhonen -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin

Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews -- Sam Malinski

Brett Kulak -- Brent Burns

Nick Blankenburg -- Josh Manson

Scott Wedgewood

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Zakhar Bardakov, Isak Posch, Jack Ahcan, Joel Kiviranta

Injured: Cale Makar (upper body)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Brett Howden -- William Karlsson -- Mitch Marner

Brandon Saad -- Tomas Hertl -- Colton Sissons

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Kaedan Korczak -- Dylan Coghlan

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Scratched: Reilly Smith, Ben Hutton, Jaycob Megna, Braeden Bowman, Akira Schmid

Injured: Mark Stone (lower body), Jeremy Lauzon (upper body)

Status report

Bednar said, “You’ll have to wait and see” when asked about Makar’s availability; the defenseman has yet to play in this series. … Vegas will not hold a morning skate. Stone, a forward, has missed five straight games and is also questionable. … Lauzon, a defenseman, could miss his ninth straight game.