seeing Nathan MacKinnon barely able to skate<\/a> after taking a Shea Theodore slap shot to the knee all but sweeping them away.<\/p>\nDefenseman Josh Manson at least tried to spin it with a little positivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big challenge, but I think it\u2019s one that you\u2019ve got to be excited for, right?\u201d Manson said Monday morning. \u201cYou win one game, and you think you can get the ball rolling a bit. I think it writes a fun story if you look at it that way. If you look at it like, \u2018Oh, this is too tough of a mountain\u2019 or whatever it may be, you already have that negative talk. You have to look at it in a positive light of what this could be, and how we are going to accomplish the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Avs seemed focused on the wrong things. Head coach Jared Bednar and Manson both were still stewing on the missed interference call on Keegan Kolesar (he plowed into Manson as Manson was backpedaling in transition) that directly preceded Kolesar\u2019s game-tying goal in the second period of Game 3. Bednar, as he has been since the end of Game 1, kept pointing out that the underlying metrics of the series are dead even or in favor of the Avalanche, insisting they\u2019re playing well enough to win. His players echoed the sentiment, the night of Game 3 and the morning after. It\u2019s going to be fine. Keep it up.<\/p>\n
It sounded like they were trying to convince themselves as much as anything.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been clear to anyone watching this series that Colorado has been shockingly fragile, reeling at the slightest pushback by the Golden Knights. Even after a brilliant first period in Game 3, the Avalanche were put immediately on their heels by Mark Stone\u2019s power-play goal 19 seconds into the second. Whatever Vegas wanted, Vegas did.<\/p>\n
All season long, as the Avalanche rolled over the rest of the league, they\u2019ve been able to get that extra goal, that extra save, to put them over the top. Not in this series, though. Not against Vegas. It was less than two weeks ago that the Avalanche rallied from their own 3-0 deficit to stun the Minnesota Wild in a decisive Game 5, MacKinnon scoring the equalizer and Brett Kulak potting the winner in a contest for the ages. Seems like a lifetime ago now. Where\u2019s that bottomless resolve now?<\/p>\n
Bednar said all three games against Vegas were \u201cone-play games,\u201d where one hero moment makes all the difference. Asked if he was surprised that his team hasn\u2019t been able to supply any of those moments, Bednar couldn\u2019t deny it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah. I knew from watching Vegas that this was going to be a really difficult series. I don\u2019t look at their season and go, \u2018This team has only finished with X amount of points.\u2019 You look at their finishes, you look at the way they\u2019re playing, you look at the way they\u2019re built deep down the middle, lots of explosive firepower, playoff-proven guys that won the year after we won \u2014 they\u2019re very similar teams. You knew it was going to be a battle. (But) to this point in the year, to the start of this series, we\u2019ve always been able to sort of make that next play, make one more play than the other team to carve out victories. To have it go the other way three games in a row\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Bednar trailed off a moment, contemplating the disappointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is sports,\u201d he went on. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t shock me. It does surprise me a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning are the teams of the decade, with a pair of Stanley Cups each. But no team has been better in the 2020s than the Avalanche under Bednar, with 732 standings points since the start of the 2019-20 season. And it was just four years ago that captain Gabriel Landeskog skated the Stanley Cup around Tampa\u2019s Amalie Arena. But history suggests this Colorado team doesn\u2019t have the mental mettle of some of its championship brethren.<\/p>\n
As Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now points out, this modern incarnation of the Avalanche \u2014 the one coached by Bednar and led by Landeskog, MacKinnon and Cale Makar \u2014 has never rallied from a series deficit beyond 1-0. They\u2019re 0-5 when trailing 2-1; 0-4 when tied 2-2; and 0-7 when trailing 3-2. They\u2019ve lost all four Game 7s in which they\u2019ve played, including last year\u2019s absolutely gutting loss to Dallas, when Mikko Rantanen, of all people, singlehandedly erased a 2-0 third-period deficit with a third-period hat trick.<\/p>\n
As good as the Avalanche have been, they just haven\u2019t been terribly resilient. So to rally from a 3-0 deficit against a team like Vegas \u2014 one that has<\/em> shown that kind of toughness and resilience over the years \u2014 is going to take something special, something new.<\/p>\nAnd the injury situation doesn\u2019t help. Bednar had no updates on the lower-body injuries suffered by MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin in the second period of Game 3. MacKinnon returned for four gutsy third-period shifts after blocking that Theodore clapper with his right knee, but was a shell of his usual self. It feels like short of amputation, MacKinnon will play in Game 4. But how effective will he be? And how will any limitations on his play affect his teammates mentally and emotionally?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here 10 years, and I\u2019ve seen Nate lay on the ice twice, OK?\u201d Bednar said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a great feeling for our team. For 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 \u2014 if that\u2019s all he can do, we\u2019ll take it. It\u2019s better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice. It just shows his character and leadership and desire to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody doubts Colorado\u2019s desire to win. But its character is being tested, and its leader might be severely diminished. If the Avalanche are going to keep their dream season alive, it\u2019s going to take something we\u2019ve never seen before from this group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have a chance,\u201d Brock Nelson said \u2014 quietly, not defiantly. \u201cSo you talk about enjoying the process, enjoying the work, and putting that all first. Just going out there and laying it on the line for one another in the room. I think (those are) the moments that you kind of dream about, having these opportunities to do something special.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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