Avalanche on brink of elimination after blowing lead to Golden Knights

The Presidents’ Trophy winners could be heading home sooner than expected.

Thanks to blowing another lead to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche are one loss away from being knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after losing Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, 5-3.

Vegas was reeling after 20 minutes. Spurred on by the return of Cale Makar and the feeling of desperation, the Avalanche jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and it seemed like the Golden Knights had no answer for Colorado’s attack. However, the Pacific Division champs came out strong in the middle stanza thanks to the play of their returning captain. Just 19 seconds into the second period, the returning Mark Stone tapped in a pass from Mitch Marner, giving the Golden Knights some life with his fourth of the playoffs.

Then, just a few minutes later, William Karlsson finally scored his first of the postseason. After Colorado defender Brett Kulak fumbled the puck in the slot, Karlsson ripped a shot by Avalanche netminder Scott Wedgewood to make it a one-goal game.

Vegas had the momentum, and even while Colorado was outplaying them, the Golden Knights continued to press on. While the stars got them back into the game, it was their depth players that tied the game. Keegan Kolesar deflected a Dylan Coghlan shot, eventually tapping in his own rebound to make it a 3-3 game with several minutes to go in the frame.

It was Kolesar’s first goal of these playoffs.

In the midst of Vegas’ comeback, the Avalanche were dealt a sizeable blow. Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon blocked a one-timer from Shea Theodore. The puck hit MacKinnon’s right knee, right where there is very little padding. MacKinnon gingerly skated off the ice after riving in pain for a couple of moments. While he was able to return to the game, he was a shell of the force that had made him one of the premier players in the game.

Things continued to go the way of the Golden Knights. A little before the halfway mark of the third, Tomas Hertl made a beautiful move to beat Sam Malinski, scoring his first of the series to give Vegas its first lead of the contest.

From there, Vegas put on a defensive masterclass, keeping the Avalanche’s vaunted offense at bay as the minutes ticked away. Despite a couple of close calls in the closing moments, an empty-netter from Brett Howden sealed the victory and a shocking 3-0 series lead.

Along with Game 2’s defeat, the Avalanche have blown leads in back-to-back contests for the first time this year.

The Avalanche wasted little time in trying to take the home fans out of the game. Just a few minutes into the first period, Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews drove hard to the Golden Knights’ net, but was taken down. However, captain Gabriel Landeskog was following up, tapping home a rebound to put Colorado out in front.

It was the Swede’s fifth goal of the playoffs and second of the series.

The Avalanche extended their lead a little over three minutes later. Martin Necas made a sleek play to feed Nazem Kadri, with the latter sniping Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart for his third of the postseason.

Vegas tried to cut into the lead with a power play later on in the first. Pavel Dorofeyev knocked the puck into the Avs’ net, but the goal was waived off, citing that Dorofeyev deflected the puck with his glove. A video review didn’t make Vegas happy, as the Avalanche remained up by a pair.

That was, until less than a minute later, when Jack Drury got a shorthanded breakaway, beating Hart to make it a 3-0 game.

It was Drury’s third goal of the playoffs.

Despite just getting back into game action, Makar led all skaters with 27:14 of ice time, but showed some noticeable rust when handling the puck. MacKinnon ended up logging just over 18 minutes of ice time, picking up an assist on Landeskog’s goal. Devon Toews registered two assists in the loss.

Stone, Karlsson and Hertl each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, while Marner had a pair of helpers in the win.

Colorado outshot Vegas 35-23, with Hart coming up with some big saves in the final two periods en route to a 32-save victory. Wedgewood made just 18 saves in the losing effort.

The Avalanche are at risk of being swept in a playoff series for the first time since 2008. The Golden Knights are trying to sweep an opponent for the first time since their first postseason run eight years ago.

Game 4 is set for Tuesday night in Sin City, with puck drop scheduled for a little after 9 p.m. ET.