The Colorado Avalanche find themselves on the verge of a sweep in the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Avalanche, however, will be on the opposite side of the sweep. Colorado had an epic meltdown, blowing a 3-0 first-period lead, dropping Game 3 on Sunday night, 5-3.
The Avs got off to a roaring start, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes of the game. The goals by Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri gave Colorado a comfortable cushion. It seemed like the game was going to be a blowout when Jack Drury added a shorthanded goal to make the game 3-0.
That was it for the offense.
The Golden Knights rallied in the second period to tie the game. Then, Tomas Hertl, who had been struggling of late, got the game-winner at the 8:21 mark of the third. Brett Howden added an empty-netter to seal the victory.
For the Avalanche, it was a stunning turn of events. The club had been ironclad when playing with the lead this season. Alas, that was not the case on Sunday night.
The Avs now face an 0-3 deficit. While there is still a chance that the Avalanche could pull off an unimaginable comeback, it doesn’t look good. Vegas has simply outlasted Colorado throughout the series. And now, it looks like the series sweep I predicted will happen, but just the other way around.
Avalanche got Makar back, pretty much lost MacKinnon
The silver lining in this game was the return of Cale Makar. He was a force to be reckoned with in the game. While he didn’t register a point, he played over 27 minutes and didn’t really look out of place.
But it was the second-period injury that Nathan MacKinnon sustained while blocking a shot that left Avalanche fans gasping for breath. MacKinnon returned after leaving towards the end of the middle frame. But he was clearly not 100%. He limped through most of the third period, but just wasn’t himself.
While the Game 3 loss was hardly a consequence of MacKinnon’s injury, his status will now come into question for Game 4.
The hope will be that Colorado can extend the series for a Game 5 back in Denver. But the situation has gotten to a point where there’s no tomorrow. Colorado will need to take things one game at a time.
If the Avs succumb to the Golden Knights in Game 4, there will be a serious reckoning in Colorado following this season.
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