LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� Just when the Avalanche got back reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, Colorado might be .
Or, at least, will have a highly limited MacKinnon, which was what he was after taking a puck to his right knee in to the Vegas Golden Knights.
It’s been that kind of series for the Avalanche, the Presidents’ Trophy winners going down 3-0 in the Western Conference Final. With the possibility of being swept Tuesday night, coach Jared Bednar will take MacKinnon in any form he can get him.
鈥淔or him to be able to come back out, get some work done late in the second period and intermission and be able to come out and even help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that鈥檚 all he can do, we鈥檒l take it,” Bednar said. “It鈥檚 better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice.鈥�
That comment could get plenty of attention in the Avalanche locker room, but as it is, the Golden Knights have Colorado’s full focus.
The odds might have been in the Avalanche’s favor before the series began 鈥� the team with the league’s best record going against one so desperate to make the playoffs that it with eight games remaining 鈥� but not now.
The numbers, in fact, are daunting.
This is the 50th time in the conference finals or league semifinals that a series has gone to 3-0. All previous 49 teams with that advantage went on to make the , with 47 ending the series in six games or fewer.
Only four teams have erased 3-0 deficits in any round. Los Angeles in 2014 was the most recent team to accomplish that in eliminating San Jose in their first-round series.
And then there’s the so-called Presidents’ Trophy curse. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim that and the Stanley Cup in the same season. Colorado already had firsthand knowledge of the difficulty of pulling off the double, winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the 2021 COVID-shortened season before going out in six games in the second round … to the Golden Knights.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a sense of urgency, but it鈥檚 got to be smart urgency,鈥� defenseman Josh Manson said. “It鈥檚 got to be desperation. It鈥檚 got to be our best style of play the whole night. You鈥檝e got to maintain that sense of do or die, while playing up to the edge. That鈥檚 what makes it so difficult.
鈥淭he margin of error is so thin now, and you鈥檝e got to be able to balance that for at least 12 periods.鈥�
It will take at least that many periods for the Avalanche to accomplish what no other team has done this deep into the playoffs. They will have to play like the team that looked like the NHL’s best for six months and then the first two rounds of the playoffs when they went 8-1.
鈥淲e know where we鈥檙e at,鈥� wing Martin Necas said. 鈥淲e know it doesn鈥檛 happen very often, but we still feel confident in this group. It鈥檚 not like we鈥檝e been outplayed every game and their team is better than ours. We had a lot of stretches this season where we won four in a row. So we just focus on the next game and take it home and anything can happen.鈥�
Getting it back to Denver for Game 5 would be a start.
鈥淥ur team’s played with more intensity and more desperation as the series (has) gone on,鈥� Bednar said. “Hasn鈥檛 worked out for us yet. I think with the hill to climb, it鈥檚 definitely a tough one. It just doesn鈥檛 happen very often, and we鈥檙e certainly understanding of that, but I think we have a lot of pride and a lot of character in our room that displayed that time over time throughout the course of the year,
“This will be our most difficult challenge, but I believe that we will show up and we will be ready to play.鈥�
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