3 Keys: Avalanche at Golden Knights, Recreation 3 of 2nd spherical
The Colorado Avalanche will attempt to enhance their winning tear to seven games after they race to the Vegas Golden Knights in Recreation 3 of the Stanley Cup 2nd Round at T-Mobile Enviornment on Friday.
Colorado can diagram the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques file for a winning tear at any point in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Nordiques, who relocated to Denver for the 1995-96 season, won six straight games in 1987.
The Avalanche also can change into the 12th crew in NHL historic previous to expend a minimal of seven in a row from the open of a postseason and the first since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008.
Since NHL growth in 1967-68, eight teams have won a minimal of seven games in a row from the open of the postseason. Every went on to assemble the Stanley Cup Remaining.
“Recreation 3 is continuously an fundamental game,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar acknowledged. “I mean, it be now not connected if you’re up 2-0, down 2-0 or tied 1-1. It be a large game in a sequence. We’ve played moderately correctly in here at events this year (2-2-0 in frequent season), and our guys are confident we can near in and play our game.”
The Golden Knights have misplaced four of their previous five games including a 3-2 previous frequent time loss in Recreation 2 and a 7-1 loss in Recreation 1 nonetheless expect power from their crowd, which is ready to be at paunchy capability for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started.
Vegas is 2-2 at home in the playoffs after going 21-5-2 there in the frequent season. They’re 114-48-13 at home in the frequent season and playoffs blended since getting into the NHL in 2017-18, including 5-4-0 towards the Avalanche.
“There’s no order on earth we would reasonably be playing Recreation 3, I will account for you that,” Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer acknowledged. “Wants to be a large succor for us.”
Teams that opt a 3-0 lead are 194-4 (98.8 p.c) winning a easiest-of-7 playoff sequence, including 2-0 this season.
Listed here are 3 keys for Recreation 3:
1. Battle of Vezina finalists
Philipp Grubauer is 6-0 for Colorado, tying the Avalanche/Nordiques file for consecutive wins in a postseason diagram by Mario Gosselin in 1987.
The goalie has won his final 10 playoff choices relationship to final year, a crew file, the eighth-longest tear in NHL historic previous and the longest since Patrick Roy’s 11-game tear with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
A Vezina Trophy finalist because the NHL’s high goalie, Grubauer leads the playoffs in targets-towards moderate (1.66) and place percentage (.943) amongst goalies with extra than one game played.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who is also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, is 4-4 with a 1.86 GAA and .924 place percentage for Vegas in the playoffs.
2. Early gap order
The Avalanche are the No. 1 offensive crew (five targets per game) and have the leading purpose-scorer in heart Nathan MacKinnon (eight) in the playoffs. They assault with tear.
The Golden Knights, the greatest defensive crew in the frequent season (2.18 targets towards per game), did the next job in Recreation 2 of eradicating the Avalanche’s time and fix; Colorado’s high gamers didn’t assemble the scoresheet in law.
“Can must you give them room to acquire tear, they are going to blow by you; they’re that hasty,” DeBoer acknowledged. “So early gap order, early order sooner than they’ll acquire that tear, [is important]. And it be now not proper our defensemen. As a five-man unit, it be severe towards a crew like that.”
3. Penalties, penalty killing
Vegas has to sluggish Colorado without taking penalties. A enormous reason the Avalanche have the No. 1 offense is that they have got the No. 1 power play in the playoffs (43.5 p.c) and are 4-for-11 in the sequence.
In Recreation 2, the Golden Knights took three penalties for slashing, two for preserving and one for lengthen of game, when defenseman Shea Theodore was compelled by MacKinnon in the defensive zone and cleared the puck over the glass. The Colorado power play went 2-for-6 and scored in previous frequent time.
“I maintain their tear obviously locations you usually in some weak areas to opt some penalties the attach some diverse teams don’t have that,” DeBoer acknowledged, “so which it is seemingly you’ll perchance perchance even have got to comprehend your stick on the ice, seek the advice of along with your legs.”
Vegas is lacking three penalty killers: defenseman Brayden McNabb as a result of COVID-19 protocol, and forwards Mattias Janmark and Tomas Nosek as a result of damage.
“The guys that are getting a few of those minutes reasonably than those guys have got to acquire the job executed for us after they acquire in there,” DeBoer acknowledged.
Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Brandon Saad — Tyson Jost — Valeri Nichushkin
Andre Burakovsky — J.T. Compher — Joonas Donskoi
Alex Newhook — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Sampo Ranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Graves — Samuel Girard
Patrik Nemeth — Conor Timmins
Philipp Grubauer
Devan Dubnyk
Scratched: Bowen Byram, Jonas Johansson, Jacob MacDonald, Liam O’Brien, Dan Renouf, Kiefer Sherwood, Carl Soderberg
Injured: Matt Calvert (upper body), Logan O’Connor (lower body)
Suspended: Nazem Kadri
COVID-19 protocol: Jayson Megna
Golden Knights projected lineup
Max Pacioretty — Chandler Stephenson — Designate Stone
Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Dylan Sikura — Nicolas Roy — Alex Tuch
William Provider — Patrick Brown — Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Prick Holden — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Cody Glass, Jimmy Schuldt, Jack Dugan, Jonas Rondbjerg, Carl Dahlstrom, Kaedan Korczak
Injured: Robin Lehner (undisclosed), Tomas Nosek (undisclosed), Mattias Janmark (upper body), Peyton Krebs (fractured jaw)
Suspended: Ryan Reaves
COVID-19 protocol: Brayden McNabb
Blueprint file
O’Connor, a forward, skated Friday nonetheless will now not play. … Tuch failed to opt part in the morning skate and is a game-time decision. … Lehner, a goalie, failed to examine and is a game-time decision.