3 Things to Watch: Avalanche at Golden Knights, Game 4 of Western Final

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

Western Conference Final, Game 4

Vegas leads best-of-7 series 3-0

9 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights can advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in their history with a win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. 

Vegas leads the best-of-7 series 3-0 after coming back from a three-goal, first-period deficit to win 5-3 in Game 3 here Sunday. That was after they won the first two games of the series in Colorado.

"You have to focus on the next game no matter what situation you're in whether you're up one, up two, down one, down two," Vegas captain Mark Stone said. "You just have to focus on the next game, and I think that's been our mentality going forward in these playoffs. We haven't got too high, we haven’t got too low, just trying to build your game for the next game."

In the first two rounds, when they have had a chance to clinch a series, the Golden Knights defeated the Utah Mammoth in the first round and Anaheim Ducks in the second round, each in Game 6 by a 5-1 score.

"That's all they've done since I've been here; get ready for each and every game," Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said. "We just try and get better each and every game no matter where the series is. The first two series, I think we've done that. We got to continue doing that here."

Colorado won the Presidents' Trophy with the best record in the regular season (55-16-11) and had 121 points, 26 more than Vegas (39-26-17), which had 95 points.

Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood will start in place of Scott Wedgewood, who allowed four goals on 22 shots in Game 3.

"We have nothing to lose and this series is the first time he's entering it and it's not like we're putting the weight of the series on Mackenzie," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think that Mackenzie is the type of guy and goalie that plays better when he's loose and confident and he's been doing the work to make sure he's ready and prepared. … We're at 0-3 in the series, so it's not a desperation move, you just have to make a change and see if something else works, for me."

Forward Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar will play for the Avalanche; each has been dealing with an injury.

Teams that have led a best-of-7 series 3-0 hold an all-time series record of 213-4, including  58-1 when starting on the road.

Here are three things to watch in Game 4: 

1. MacKinnon's health 

MacKinnon went down after blocking a shot from Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore in Game 3 and had to be helped off the ice at 12:15 of the second period. 

The Colorado forward returned to play two shifts in the second and four in the third, but did not look 100 percent. He will be in the lineup and should not be limited according to Bednar. 

"No, I think we'll be able to use him," Bednar said following an optional morning skate Tuesday. "He's feeling a lot better today. We'll see when he gets on the ice tonight and what the game brings, but he's feeling pretty good today and feels like he'll be ready to go." 

MacKinnon has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 12 games in the playoffs, but has been held to two assists in the first three games against Vegas.

2. Closing time

Vegas was able to eliminate its opponents in the opening two rounds of the playoffs on the first attempt and will look to do it a third time against Colorado. 

The Golden Knights outscored their opponents in those two games by a 10-2 score.

"I don't think we're focusing on that," Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev said Tuesday. "There's a lot of people talking about the elimination game or whatever, but to us, we just got to stay focused. We've got to play our game; it's as simple as it can get. I think we've done a really good job in these playoffs in that regard, and I think it just helped us of how we're going to play."

3. Blackwood gets the call

Blackwood will be making his first appearance of the series in place of Scott Wedgewood, and his first start since Game 5 of the second round against the Minnesota Wild. 

He is 2-1 in three games (two starts) this postseason with a 3.20 goals-against average and .872 save percentage.

"I really feel like whoever is between the pipes, we're going to play desperate hockey in front of him regardless," Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri said. "We have faith in both our goaltenders, and I don't really think it matters who's playing, the team in front of him is going to play hard." 

On the other side, the Avalanche will have to find a way to beat Carter Hart.

He has allowed just six goals in this series to a Colorado team which led the NHL with 3.63 goals-per game during the regular season.

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Artturi Lehkonen

Valeri Nichushkin -- Brock Nelson -- Martin Necas

Ross Colton -- Nazem Kadri -- Nicolas Roy

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

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Brett Kulak -- Sam Malinski

Josh Manson -- Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

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

Injured: None

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Brett Howden -- William Karlsson -- Mitch Marner

Tomas Hertl -- Colton Sissons -- Mark Stone

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Kaedan Korczak -- Dylan Coghlan

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

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

Injured: Jeremy Lauzon (upper body) 

Status report

Each team held an optional morning skate. … Nichushkin will be a game-time decision; he sustained a lower-body injury in Game 3. … The Golden Knights will use the same lineup from their 5-3 win in Game 3.