For a third consecutive game against the NHL’s best team in the regular season, the Kings felt good Thursday night about how they played. For the third consecutive game, the Colorado Avalanche defeated them.

The Avs have not blown the doors off this team like many pundits predicted, given the chasm between the two clubs in the final NHL standings. They have beaten the Kings at their own game, combating a physical, defense-first brand of hockey with a better version of it.

“We keep saying we’re right there, but I think each guy, including myself, we have to give a little bit more,” Kings center Quentin Byfield said after the Avs won 4-2 in Game 3. “We’re doing the right things, but we just have to dig in a little more.”

Colorado has allowed four goals in three games. Two of them have been at 4-on-6 because the Kings pulled their goalie late in the game while on the power play.

Scott Wedgewood was one of the NHL’s great stories in the regular season, and he’s kept it rolling in his first three career Stanley Cup Playoffs starts.

“I don’t think we’re creating enough Grade-A chances on Wedgewood,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “He has played well, but statistically, they’re one of the best teams in the neutral zone. For us to beat them, we have to wear them down in the D zone, make them tired, and score goals that way. We haven’t done that enough.”

Doughty is right. The Avs have created more than 60% of the high-danger scoring chances in this season, according to Natural Stat Trick at 5-on-5. That’s the second-most in this postseason so far, behind only Montreal.

Despite Los Angeles’ best efforts to make this a low-event series, Colorado leads the playoffs in both total high-danger scoring chances (34) and chances per 60 minutes (14.09). The Avs are still getting a lot of the chances they want.

The Kings are not. So the search for solutions continues.

“Get some O-zone shifts, get the next line out there still in the O-zone,” Doughty said. “That����ap what they do to us. They come at us with flurries of three great shifts in a row and then the game goes back to neutral and then they do it again. We need to get more of those flurries on them.”

Byfield, who has been the Kings’ most dangerous player when they’re not on the power play, had a similar message.

“It����ap just more plays. We keep stressing that,” Byfield said. “Playoff hockey obviously it����ap physical, you’re chipping a lot of pucks out, but we can be connected a little bit more, breaking it out, coming out as a unit and being a little bit more connected.”

Kings coach D.J. Smith answered a question after Game 3 about his team’s lack of 5-on-5 offense. They have scored once at even strength in three games. He felt the analytics would say the offense generated on Thursday would be a big number.

It was not. The Kings generated 1.55 expected goals at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick. Los Angeles’ total for the game in all situations was 2.59, which is the ninth-lowest by any team in the playoffs so far. It was an improvement from Game 2, when the Kings accumulated the third-lowest (2.02), even with the contest needing overtime.

So the Avs have pulled a Kings on the Kings, and now the Kings want to be more like the Avs to beat the Avs.

“We gave up the lowest goals against of any team,” Wedgewood said. “We’re detailed. We take pride in our D zone. Guys are blocking shots, doing what they need to do. And I think growing that throughout the season is going to pay off in the playoffs like it is right now.”

Sean Keeler: Friday, when you toss in the snow and the USWNT? So cool. Literally. Saturday? Electric. Sunday? TCB. As in, Take Care of Business. And, by golly, the Avs better. When it comes to the first two rounds of the playoffs, there’s more pressure on Bednar to not get upset, because a.) He’s been here longer and everyone’s opinion on the big guy — pro or con — is pretty well set in stone by now; b.) You’re the No. 1 seed; c.) Bednar’s contract is up after next season. The Kings are the kind of first-round opponent the Avs should dispense of quickly — but they’re also the kind that are going to make you absolutely work for it. The Kings are going to hit you late. Hit you early. Hit you coming off the dang bus. Ugly hockey with a hot goaltender is Plan A for any underdog, and Bednar has to prove for the next eight days or so that he can win 3-2, 2-1, 1-0 kind of slugfests. So far, so good.

Renck: Outcomes microwave expectations. The Nuggets shot poorly and still smashed the Timberwolves in Game 1. It cemented the notion that Denver is capable of reeling off 16 victories over the next two months. But it is not likely. Having to go through the Spurs and Thunder creates a path more suited for a mountain goat. This is the first reason Adelman has less at stake. The second? Injuries provided him cover all season. The Nuggets secured the No. 3 seed because of his dynamic offense and ability to help role players reach their potential. But if Denver loses to the Spurs, for instance, it will be viewed as a disappointment, not a crash out. The same cannot be said for Bednar if the Avs fail to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

Keeler: The outside noise will be louder for whatever the Nuggets do (or don’t do) this spring. The road’s tougher. The tension’s higher. Adelman’s regular season had more twists and turns than Nikola Jokic’s over 30 now, and everybody knows we’re unlikely to see his kind of NBA greatness in Denver gold, for this long, ever again. Josh Kroenke loves all his assets equally (wink), but let’s also be real: He’s a hoopster, not a puck head. The highest-up in KSE have the last word on Nuggets business. When it comes to the Avs, they’re more likely to defer to Joe Sakic and Chris MacFarland and admit they know what they don’t know. Unlike the end of the Michael Malone Era, Bednar’s led a comparatively calm, steady ship. Sakic digs that. C-Mac digs that. So do Josh and Stan.

Renck: Bednar has shown growth this season. He seems more willing to experiment, and demonstrated common sense by sticking with Scott Wedgewood in goal. Management has always exercised patience with Bedsy. But fans will not. In the recent ESPN top 50 ranking of players in the postseason, the Avs featured three in the top 10 — MacKinnon (first), Cale Makar (fourth) and Martin Necas (10th). And Wedgewood came in at No. 34. It is impossible to have this kind of star talent and steady third-and-fourth-line grinders and not be favored. Bednar is under more pressure, but must remain aggressive. Adelman, in some ways, has nothing to lose after the first round. Bednar must see his situation as everything to gain.

Keeler: And as much as we harp on Joker’s window, the Avs have long since pushed all their chips to the middle of the table. They’re bringing nine players who are 31 years or older into the postseason grind. Gabe Landeskog is 33. Naz Kadri is 35. Brent Burns is 41. If it’s not now, is it never? Should Bedsy get bounced before the second round, Stan Kroenke might have no choice but to change horses in a race he’d prefer to leave alone.

Avalanche vs. Kings matchups: Who has the edge?

Kings: 35-27-20, 90 points; 2.68 goals per game (29th), 2.90 goals against per game (8th)

Avalanche: 55-16-11, 121 points; 3.63 goals per game (1st), 2.40 goals against per game (1st)

Offense

The Avs just missed being the only NHL club to score 300 goals this year, but their 298 was still seven more than Carolina in second and 78 more than the Kings. Colorado hasn’t had its full allotment of forwards together very often since the additions of Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy before the trade deadline, but everyone is expected to be ready for Game 1.

It’s the best forward group in the league if everyone is healthy. Nathan MacKinnon led the league in goals and should be a Hart Trophy finalist for the third straight year. Martin Necas collected 100 points for the first time in his career. Brock Nelson fired home 33 goals and formed a dominant two-way tandem with Valeri Nichushkin.

Kadri will likely center the third line and Jack Drury the fourth, but Ross Colton could end up on any of the bottom three lines. Parker Kelly’s 21 goals would be tied for third on the Kings. He could play on the fourth line for the Avs.

The Kings did make a big splash for Artemi Panarin and then added Scott Laughton just before the deadline. Panarin and Adrian Kempe with Azne Kopitar between them is a very nice top line.

Byfield has been hot lately and is a strong No. 2 center. Colorado’s depth should be a massive advantage. Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko would make this group look a lot more formidable, but both are injured any may not play in this series.

Advantage: Avalanche

Defense

Cale Makar missed some games with a minor injury, then returned and looked quite ready for the postseason. Will coach Jared Bednar start him with Devon Toews, or will he split them up? Brett Kulak has faced the Kings each of the past four postseasons with Edmonton. He could play with Makar and allow Toews to continue to skate with Sam Malinski, one of the breakout performers of the season.

Josh Manson missed the end of the regular season, but is expected to be ready for Sunday, and to be paired again with Brent Burns. The Avs led the NHL in offense from defensemen for the sixth consecutive season.

Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson lead the Los Angeles blue line. Doughty is 36 and played the fewest minutes per game of his career. Brandt Clarke is an offensive specialist who the Avs are going to try to pin at his end of the ice. The Kings added both Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci this offseason to play in games like this. Colorado’s top forwards will be delighted to see them on the ice.

Advantage: Avalanche

Special teams

The power play has been Colorado’s weak link all season, but it’s been less of one since the Olympic break. The Avs finished 27th with the man advantage … but the Kings finished 28th. And Colorado was 16th at 21.4% with the extra man after the break.

Meanwhile, the Avs’ penalty kill has been consistently elite all season. Colorado finished first in the league on the PK. Los Angeles has the worst penalty kill in the playoffs — 30th overall this season, and last since the Olympic break at 67.9%. The Kings can be dangerous shorthanded, and that’s been an issue for the Avs at times this season.

Advantage: Avalanche

Goaltending

The Avs won the William Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals this season. Scott Wedgewood led the NHL in goals against average (2.02) and save percentage (.921). Mackenzie Blackwood started the year 13-1-1, but has scuffled at times in the second half of the season. Both just missed out on representing Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper was on that Canada team after a strong start to the season. He may not be in net Sunday against his former team, though. Anton Forsberg has taken control of the position, winning five straight starts down the stretch to help L.A. qualify for the playoffs before dropping the finale to Calgary. Forsberg has a .914 save percentage since the Olympic break, while Kuemper has an .867.

We could see all four goalies in this series.

Advantage: Avalanche

Avalanche vs. Kings: 5 storylines to watch

1. Who is in net? The biggest unknown for the Avs is how the goalie situation is going to work. Scott Wedgewood has been the better goalie for a long stretch now, but Mackenzie Blackwood is still the long-term No. 1 goalie for this organization. Jared Bednar has said he will continue to play both guys.

2. Befuddle Byfield? The Kings top line is very good. Quinton Byfield has 11 goals in the past 15 games and centers the club’s go-to shutdown line. This could be a coming out party for him nationally if he comports himself well against MacKinnon and Co. If the Avs can keep him in check and make the Kings a one-line team, that should make this a short series.

3. Corral Clarke? 23-year-old Brandt Clarke is the type of offensive defenseman who can change games. The Kings also try to shelter him with a lot of offensive zone starts. Similar to Byfield, containing Clarke is a path to shutting down the Kings’ offense.

4. Power up? The Kings have some of the worst special teams in the league, in both phases. They’ve also had issues on specials teams during the playoffs the past few years. Colorado’s power play had a great March, but PP1 was in the garage for most of April because of injuries to Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri. This could, even should, be a chance for the Avs to find some success on the power play. And going close to perfect on the PK in the series isn’t out of the question.

5. One trip? These Kings have had a weird year. The coach got fired. They won 35 games. Everyone has counted them out. But … they’ve been better with Artemi Panarin and since Anton Forsberg got hot. They will play all of the motivational cards — nobody believes in us, we have nothing to lose, let’s win one series for Azne Kopitar before he retires. The Avs need to take control of this series early, not let up and make one trip to sunny Southern California, not two.

Avalanche vs. Kings series predictions

Corey Masisak, beat writer:  Once upon a time at another publication, I picked the Kings to win the Stanley Cup in five games. My boss asked how I could pick them in such a short series and my response was “because I can’t pick them in three.” This is that type of series, as long as the Avalanche take care of business early and don’t let the Kings start to believe. The Kings will try to slow game down, drag the Avs down into the mud and make it as coin-flip in nature as possible. They’re going to hope Anton Forsberg stays hot. They have a few standout players, but the Avs are much deeper. It would take a lot of things going wrong for this to be a long series, and catastrophic-type stuff for the Kings to win. Kings won that Cup Final in five games, by the way. And it was over in three. Avs in five.

Sean Keeler, sports columnist:  What better way to start a 2022 nostalgia tour than by waving hello (and good-bye) to old friend Darcy Kuemper in the first round? Chances are the former Avs net-minder won’t play much, unless MacKinnon, Necas & Company batter Anton Forsberg, the Kings’ likely No. 1 goaltender, early. And they could. The Avalanche swept all three meetings this season by an average score of 4.3-1.7 and haven’t posted fewer than four goals in any tussle against the Kings since December 2023. L.A.’s only chance is to muck it up, slow it down, and try to make things as ugly as possible — the Kings feature the lowest-scoring offense of any postseason team at 2.68 goals per game. Context: The Avs averaged 2.36 goals by the end of the second period. Get ‘er done, get ‘er done quick, and rest up for the bare knuckle brawl that’s looming in the next round. Avs in five.

Troy Renck, sports columnist:  The President����ap Trophy is a curse. But not in the first round. Not against the Kings. This is an ideal matchup for the Avs to work up a sweat before taking on the Dallas Stars. The Kings failed to manage a point against Colorado this season, outscored 13-5. The Kings received the interim coach boost – 11-6-6 – but they simply can’t score enough to avoid getting swept. Who is going to stop Nathan MacKinnon? Or Marty Necas? Or Cale Makar? No one, that’s who. Avs in four.

Lori Punko, deputy sports editor: The President’s Trophy winning Avs against the 20th best team in the NHL? It should — and most likely will — be a cakewalk for the Avs. Facing the Kings is a gift for MacKinnon & Company, but they need to take care of business and not look past this series to the winner of the Wild-Stars battle. Colorado got healthy at the right time, and if they dominate like they should, the Avs will be the better rested team going into the second round. Avs in five.

Kyle Newman, sportswriter:  Colorado makes an opening round statement: After winning the Presidents’ Trophy, they are in these playoffs to be the first winner of the trophy since the 2013 Blackhawks to also raise the Stanley Cup. Getting Cale Makar back from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for a few weeks down the stretch of the regular season is a boost to a roster already loaded with enough firepower to easily dismantle the Kings. The Avs will take care of business at home for a 2-0 lead in the series, then win a couple on the road to clinch the series by next Sunday in Los Angeles. The Kings put together a nice five-game win streak towards the end of the season, but their porous defense will be no match for the Avs’ top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas. Expect a lot of Colorado scoring blitzes in this series, as seen in the season opener when the Avs scored three second-period goals in a 4-1 win. Avs in four.

Here’s the full schedule and how to watch each game as the Avs embark on their 2026 playoff run starting Sunday at Ball Arena.

Avs vs. Kings playoff schedule

Game 1: 1 p.m. Sunday, April 19, Los Angeles at Colorado, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX (Final: Avs 2, Kings 1)
Game 2: 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, Los Angeles at Colorado, ALT, ESPN (Final: Avs 2, Kings 1)��
Game 3: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, Colorado at Los Angeles, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX (Final: Avs 4, Kings 2)
Game 4: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26, Colorado at Los Angeles, ALT, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX
*Game 5: TBD Wednesday, April 29,  Los Angeles at Colorado
*Game 6: TBD Friday, May 1, Colorado at Los Angeles
*Game 7: TBD Sunday, May 3, Los Angeles at Colorado
*If necessary

The Avs beat the Flames 3-1 on Thursday at Ball Arena, securing the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 29 shots before finally yielding a goal late, while Gabe Landeskog, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon all lit the lamp in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.

This is the fourth time that Colorado has claimed the honor for the most points in the NHL’s regular season, joining the 1997, 2001 and 2021 teams. Only one of those teams, the ’01 squad, ended up winning the Stanley Cup.

Of the 37 previous teams to win the Presidents’ Trophy since its inception in 1986, eight have gone on to win the Stanley Cup, with the most recent being the 2013 Blackhawks. So the work for the championship-or-bust Avs — who clinched the Central Division title and the top spot in the Western Conference with a win in St. Louis on Tuesday — is far from over.

“It’s not the trophy we’re looking for,” an even-keeled Necas said from a Colorado locker room short on any sort of celebration, “but it’s a good start.”

On Thursday, it wasn’t near the shellacking that Colorado put on Calgary in the teams’ last meeting two weeks ago, when the Avs scored five times in the opening period to cruise to a 9-2 win. But once again, the Avs were in command for most of the night.

Colorado dominated the possession and chances early, recording the game’s first eight shots on goal. The Avs finally broke through in the waning minutes of the period, taking advantage of a power play with a goal by Landeskog with just over a minute left.

On Wednesday, Landeskog was nominated by the Colorado chapter of the PHWA which is presented annually to the player who “best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Fresh off that honor, Landeskog took a tic-tac-toe pass from Necas and MacKinnon, with the latter finding Landeskog wide open on the weak side of the net for an easy-money 1-0 lead.

Landeskog echoed Necas’ sentiment, noting that winning the Presidents’ Trophy can only mean so much for a group that has had tunnel vision on raising the Stanley Cup. The Avs’ captain added that he believes this year’s team is “more experienced than that (2021 Presidents’ Cup team), and hungrier than that one.

“It obviously means we’ve had a great regular season and we’re the top team after 82 games, but at the end of the day going into the playoffs, it doesn’t really mean much,” Landeskog said. “Everybody is going to start fresh, 0-0, and you get a chance to prove yourself again.

“It fuels us knowing that we’ve won a lot of hockey games in a lot of different ways, because I think that’s important to remember.”

In the second, Colorado added to its lead with a slick goal by Necas. Off assists from MacKinnon and Brent Burns with about five minutes left in the period, Necas skated his way through the heart of the Calgary defense, splitting a pair of Flames defenders before beating a sprawling Dustin Wolf on the top right shelf.

The play left Wolf facedown on the ice in disbelief for a few moments and gave Colorado a 2-0 lead.

With his assist to Necas, MacKinnon moved into third all-time on the franchise’s single-season point list, passing Peter Stastny’s 124. MacKinnon holds the team’s all-time record, with 140 points in 2023-24, and the Hall of Famer Stastny is second with 139 with Quebec in 1981-82.

“(MacKinnon) has been dominant for us from the very first game, and I expect that to continue (in the playoffs),” Landeskog said.

In the third, the Avs defense cinched down and allowed Calgary very few legitimate chances to get on the board. The Flames finally scored with just under three minutes to go, as Tyson Gross found the net in a six-on-five scenario with Wolf pulled.

With Wolf still on the bench, Gross scored again with 1:29 left, but the goal was wiped off when the Flames were ruled offside after a challenge from the Avalanche. MacKinnon then scored his NHL-best 52nd goal of the season on an empty net with 54 seconds left, setting a new career high.

Colorado has four regular-season games remaining, including two at home against Vegas on Saturday and Seattle on April 16. Avs head coach Jared Bednar said he and his staff will formulate a plan to get Colorado rested and ready for the start of the playoffs.

Bednar says he’d like to see Cale Makar, who has been sidelined for a couple weeks with an upper-body injury, return to action before the playoffs. Meanwhile Nazem Kadri, who is dealing with a finger injury, is “a day-to-day process.”

As for MacKinnon, Bednar says the Avs’ catalyst will be in the lineup if MacKinnon wants to play, and the same thing for Necas.

“We’ve got some guys that have been out of the lineup that I think we need to continue to play, regardless of their stature on our team and how many minutes they’ve played,” Bednar said. “We’ve got some guys that probably could use a break. We’ve got some guys chasing milestones (and awards).

“(In the next couple days), we’ll try to come up with a plan for the last four games, and the last three games for sure, on who we want to rest, how we’re going to do that, and who we can call up (from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles).”

The Avalanche had a chance to clinch the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference on Sunday, but the St. Louis Blues ruined the moment with a 3-2 victory at Ball Arena. St. Louis’ top line dominated, and Robert Thomas posted his first career hat trick, including the game-winner with just under three minutes left to bury Colorado.

The Avs, playing without Valeri Nichushkin on Sunday due to an upper-body injury and also still without Cale Makar due to an upper-body injury, couldn’t muster enough finishing touch on offense. Then the defense wilted at a critical moment, sealing the defeat.

“We gave up too many odd-man rushes,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “(The first goal) was because we’re disorganized coming into our zone, because they had numbers beating us up the ice. Odd-man rush on the second one, odd-man rush on the third one, and that can’t happen.”

Bednar said there’s a possibility Nichushkin is back on the ice for Colorado’s next game on Tuesday in St. Louis.

“I don’t want to be playing guys hurt if it can get worse,” Bednar said. “That’s what we did today with Val.”

On Sunday, in front of a sold-out Easter crowd, both teams squandered a couple of opportunities early, including Nathan MacKinnon missing a one-on-one and then the Blues also whiffing on a similar chance. Neither mustered a shot on net in those scenarios.\

“I just couldn’t finish (all game),” MacKinnon said. “It was one of those nights. Felt good, legs felt good, just couldn’t find the spots.”

About 10 minutes through the frame, the Avs briefly took the lead when Ross Colton batted a rebound out of the air and into the net off a deflection from the weak side. But upon video review on a St. Louis challenge, Colorado was offside, negating the goal.

A few minutes later, St. Louis took control off a chaotic sequence in front of the Colorado net. MacKenzie Blackwood made three saves at close range, but the Avs couldn’t clear the puck, and Thomas made them pay with a slap shot from the slot. That beat Blackwood on the top right shelf.

But the Avs responded, with Brent Burns — who was honored before the game for his 1,000-game streak that hit the milestone on Saturday in the road win over Dallas — forcing the action. Burns’ wrister through traffic deflected off Parker Kelly, then off a Blues defender and goalie Joel Hofer to equalize the game at 1-1.

In the second period, both teams scored within 29 seconds of each other to push the score to 2-2.

Burns’ wrister from up near the blue line found its way through traffic and into the bottom right corner of the net for Colorado’s first lead. Before PA announcer Alan Roach was even done celebrating the goal, however, St. Louis scored. Off an Avs’ chance, the Blues reversed the ice in a 3-on-2 rush that led to a tic-tac-toe pass and Thomas’ second goal of the night.

Five minutes into the third, the Avs nearly had a short-handed goal when Hofer got drawn out of the crease, but Colorado couldn’t punch it in amid a mass of bodies in front of the net.

And it was St. Louis that had the final say in a 2-on-1 rush, when Thomas got the feed from Jimmy Snuggerud on the weak side of the net and easily put the game-winner home. Snuggerud pulled off a toe-drag to shake Martin Nečas and zip the puck to a wide-open Thomas.

“I don’t know why Marty’s playing D (there),” MacKinnon said. “Tough way to lose.

“It’s a lot of winning and losing, back-and-forth lately. It was a tight game, but it would’ve been nice to just get a point there and take our chances in OT.”

The Avs have just one win in their last seven games in Denver, lacking the home cooking they had going earlier in the season, when they put together a 17-game home winning streak.

“We’re chasing the game a bit (at home),” Kelly said. “We want to make sure this is a tough building to play in and right now, it’s just kind of frustrating (with the recent results at home).”

Will it be easier to flush Sunday’s loss, considering the back-to-back games against the Blues, who remain in contention for a wild-card spot, and the imminent clinching of the No. 1 Western Conference spot?

“It makes it easier if we beat them on Tuesday,” Bednar said.

Brock Boeser scored a hat trick, and the league-worst Vancouver Canucks came to Ball Arena and stunned the Avs in a wild 8-6 affair. Vancouver began the day 58 points behind Colorado in the NHL standings.

“It’s too long of a list,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of what went wrong in the first two periods.

This result came just two nights after the Avs overwhelmed the Calgary Flames in a 9-2 victory.

Vancouver built a 6-2 lead in this game and chased goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. The Avalanche, playing without star defenseman Cale Makar, stormed back to tie it, only for the Cancucks to reclaim the lead before the crowd had finished going crazy about the comeback.

“Hockey is a funny game sometimes,” Avs forward Brock Nelson said. “Every night is not going to be perfect. The other night the start was about as picture-perfect as it gets. Today was probably the anti that. You have to find different ways to claw your way back into it and win games.”

Sam Malinski cut the deficit to 6-3 on the next shift. His shot from the perimeter went off former University of Denver star Zeev Buium, who was battling with Parker Kelly in front. The Canucks challenged for goalie interference, but the goal remained.

Kelly scored on the first shift of the third to make it a 6-4 game. That was his 19th goal in 74 games this season. He had 17 goals in the previous three seasons (215 games) combined.

A Brent Burns point shot cut the lead to one with 6:39 remaining. Then Malinski fired home his second of the night 37 seconds later to bring Colorado all the way back … briefly.

Elias Pettersson’s go-ahead goal came 23 seconds later, and quieted what had been a rocking arena. Boeser tacked on an empty-netter to complete his hat trick.

“I liked the way we played in the third, but the reality of it is if you want to win in this league you have to play that way for 60 minutes,” Bednar said. “We weren’t even close. It wasn’t a great first and it got worst in the second.

“If you want to hand out badges for good effort … I think we are beyond that this time of year.”

This one went sideways from the start. Max Sasson scored on the first shift, after a long outlet pass went off Josh Manson’s stick and right to the Canucks’ forward. Buium collected an assist on the play.

Nathan MacKinnon made it 1-1 on the next shift with his 50th goal of the season. MacKinnon’s wrist shot from above the circles beat Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen at 1:22.

This is MacKinnon’s second 50-goal year of his career, along with the 51 he racked up two seasons ago. He’s the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone twice. Avs president Joe Sakic did so in 1995-96 and 2000-01. Michel Goulet did it four years in a row, from 1982-86, while the franchise was based in Quebec City.

Teddy Blueger scored his first of the night while shorthanded at 5:21. It was the Avs’ league-leading 13th shorthanded goal against.

Jake DeBrusk made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 11:38. Avs captain Gabe Landeskog tipped a  Burns shot past Lankinen late in the first to get Colorado back within a goal, but it got worse in the middle period.

Blueger scored the second five-hole goal of the night on Blackwood to make it 4-2. Then Boeser potted a pair — one on a one-timer after poor defensive coverage and one on a long wrist shot through a screen.

That was the end of Blackwood’s night, with 4:39 left in the second and the Avs down 6-2. Blackwood allowed six goals on 19 shots. It is the third time in seven games this season that Colorado’s goalie has been pulled while wearing the throwback Quebec Nordiques uniforms.

“He was one of 20,” Bednar said. “That’s all I can say. He was one of 20 guys that wasn’t good enough.”

Makar did not play in the third period Monday night of a 9-2 win against the Calgary Flames. Nick Blankenburg will replace Makar in the lineup Wednesday night at Ball Arena against the Vancouver Canucks. Sam Malinski will take his place quarterbacking the top power-play unit.

“He’s doing OK,” Bednar said. “He going to miss some time, though. Nothing serious, like nothing that is putting playoffs in jeopardy or anything like that. But like I said with Nic Roy, if someone has something going on at this time of the year, we want to make sure they’re right for playoffs and the last handful of games of the season. So yeah, we’re going to keep him out for a little bit.”

into the boards late in the second period Monday. Makar took two more shifts, including one that ended with his assist on a Nathan MacKinnon power-play goal, but did not return for the final 20 minutes.

Makar has 20 goals and 75 points in 73 games this season. Malinski has only logged 11:09 of ice time on the power play this season — far less than Devon Toews and Brent Burns — but Bednar said Malinski is producing the most in the offensive zone right now and sees it as a good opportunity to take a lot at one of the club’s breakout players of the season.

“It’s a big responsibility, for sure,” Malinski said. “It’s not like I haven’t run a power play before. It’s been a little while for me, but … it’s pretty good players. I can just kind of give them the puck and watch them go.”

Malinski has five goals and 34 points, which is seventh on the Avs and second among defensemen behind Makar, this season. Blankenburg has played three games for the Avs since arriving just before the trade deadline from Nashville.

The Winnipeg Jets came to Ball Arena and kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory against the league-leading Avalanche. Cole Perfetti’s goal was the game-winner, but whether or not it should have counted is another chapter in the NHL’s ongoing goaltender interference debate.

Perfetti tipped a shot from Josh Morrissey past Mackenzie Blackwood with 5:11 remaining in the third period to give the Jets a 3-2 lead. It was the second deflection goal of the game for Winnipeg, but the guy who didn’t touch the puck — Jonathan Toews — was the center of the game’s defining decision.

“I have no idea. I can’t comment on goalie interference because I don’t know what they’re looking for,” Avs star Cale Makar said. “There is a big grey area. That one was probably borderline tonight, but honestly, I don’t know.

“It’s frustrating at times. It’s tough, but like, where is the line drawn exactly? The crease is there for a reason. If you’re in the crease, obviously, it’s not IIHF rules where (the play is blown dead and the faceoff) comes out of the zone, but if you’re in the crease, obviously, you might be obstructing.”

Colorado challenged the play for goaltender interference. Toews was in the blue paint, and his skate made contact with Blackwood before the puck went in. That has been enough to rule out goals this season, but goalie interference has become a red-hot button issue across the league because coaches and players alike feel like they don’t know what the standards are.

Perfetti’s goal was upheld, and the Avs were assessed a penalty for the failed challenge. Colorado killed off the penalty with relative ease, but it left the Avs with a little more than three minutes to find an equalizer. Kyle Connor added an empty-net goal to ensure the Winnipeg victory.

“We kind of bumped him in there the first time, and the second time (Toews) goes in on his own,” Bednar said. “There’s minimal contact. The contact was probably a little bit late.

“I challenged because of the timing of it. One goal at 5-on-5 the whole game, it was hard to create offense … if you can try to erase it off the board, I thought it was worth the shot. It was close enough.”

The Dallas Stars won earlier in the day, so Colorado’s lead in the Central Division and Western Conference is down to seven points with 10 games remaining. The Avs also have a game in hand on the Stars.

Gabriel Vilardi opened the scoring for Winnipeg. Morrissey’s shot from the left point deflected twice, with Vilardi getting his stick on it last at 3:51 of the first period.

Brock Nelson evened the score with a power-play goal at 8:59. Nazem Kadri picked out Nelson in the slot for a hard pass, and the latter redirected it into the top-left corner of the net for his 33rd goal of the season. That’s Nelson’s third goal in five games and also leaves him just four shy of matching his career high set in 2021-22.

Makar collected an assist on the Nelson goal. It was his 500th career point. By reaching the milestone in 467 games, Makar is the fourth-fastest defenseman to 500 in NHL history. Only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey and Dennis Potvin got there faster.

“It’s really special,” Makar said. “I don’t think I’m doing it anywhere else than here. Very fortunate to play with a group of guys like this. It makes my life easy, and I try to make theirs a little bit easier too.”

The Avs had the league’s worst power play at the Olympic break and went just 1-for-10 in the last three games of February, but it has looked like a different unit in March. Nelson’s goal was the 12th with the extra man this month. The Avs have scored at least one in 10 of the 14 games.

Colorado hadn’t scored more than eight in any other month this season, and had just seven in January and February combined.

The home side was slow off the mark to start the second period, and Cole Koepke helped Winnipeg regain the lead. After the Avs turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Koepke cut to the inside of the ice and past Brent Burns and then whiffed on his shot, but the changeup trickled through Blackwood’s legs at 2:14 of the middle period.

Parker Kelly’s dream season continued late in the second. Josh Manson flicked a wrist shot from the top of the offensive zone towards the net, and Kelly got a piece of it for his 17th goal of the season with 1:55 left in the period.

Kelly’s career highs before this season were eight goals and 11 assists, but he’s more than doubled his best goal output and has added 12 assists as well.

“I don’t like seven (defensemen),” said the Avalanche star, whose West-leading crew hosts Dallas, , on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. “Different D pairs every shift isn’t great. The flow is off, for sure.”

Communication? Also off.

“We need everyone on the same page,” MacKinnon stressed after a puzzling, plodding 7-2 home loss to Pittsburgh late Monday. “We need more communication before the game (and in) meetings. Really know what we’re going to do over and over again …  it felt like we’ve been pretty good, and then Winnipeg (happened) and then (Monday) was just off again … can’t really explain it. It’s been like that all season.”

Strategy? Also, also off.

“Lines and (defensive) pairs need to sit down and go through clips and figure out what our system is right now,” MacKinnon offered. “Too much passing around the perimeter. The only good shift of the game we had was when (Brent Burns) took four shots from the strong side and then they (got) one on the net. So that’s how we have to play. We’re too perimeter. We don’t shoot enough. We haven’t had 30 shots in four games now. Which is very, very rare for us.”

Lineups? Also, also, also off.

“I think chemistry matters, and if a guy’s used to playing center, filling in … it’s no one’s fault,” MacKinnon continued. “(We’ve had) a lot of different line combinations lately, for everybody, so it’s hard. It sounds like an excuse, but (Monday) was just bad, too… It was one of those nights that just (stunk).”

By cracky, did Nate and the Avs stink up the joint Monday before a full house ?

The defense stunk. The juice stunk. The power play stunk, although we’re used to that. Scott Wedgewood stunk in goal (three goals allowed in five shots faced), which we’re not used to at all. Mackenzie Blackwood replaced Wedgie after Colorado trailed 3-1 and stunk slightly less.

“Guys getting beat, guys getting out-competed, just not digging in enough,” was how coach Jared Bednar explained it later. “And we’re giving up easy chances … that start is not on (Wedgewood) at all. Like, what’s he gonna do? Like some of the chances that we’re giving up are guys all alone at the net-front, kind of the same as Edmonton. We just talked about it, right? So we fixed it for Winnipeg, and then it’s back again (Monday).”

For Bednar, that Penguins tilt was damning on two fronts. The first was the performance itself — a discombobulated mess, a good hockey team making October mistakes in mid-March. The Avs handed the locals a perfect storm of bad: Sleepy goaltending, lousy shooting (two goals in 27 attempts), and professionals playing like complete strangers defensively. Which, to hear MacKinnon tell it, maybe they were.

The second pain was the timing. Between a disastrous first period and a sloppy second on Chopper Circle, Dallas got busy falling at home to Utah, 6-3, ending a 15-point streak for the hard-charging Stars.

The Mammoth handed Dallas its first regulation loss since January 22 and its first home defeat in two months. Monday evening was a golden chance to open up at least a little breathing space before Wednesday’s visit from Dallas (42-15-10), which trails Colorado (44-13-9) by just three points (97-94), even though the Avs have a game in hand.

The Penguins (34-18-15) were at the end of a grueling, four-city, six-day road trip. Oh, and were playing without Sidney Crosby. So, yeah, not good. Not good at all.

“I know everyone is talking about Wednesday,” Colorado center Brock Nelson mused, “but this one (Monday) was equally as big.”

The Avs didn’t show it. Colorado managed to force a tie game — 1-1 — for all of 15 seconds before Pittsburgh’s Anthony Mantha zipped past the entire Avs defense and, with Cale Makar riding his back, slotted home a 2-1 Penguins lead just 4:23 into the tilt.

About eight-and-a-half minutes later, Evgeni Malkin was left all alone at point-blank range to fire the visitors into a 3-1 cushion. Bednar responded by yanking Wedgewood, only for Elmer Soderblom to beat Blackwood 43 seconds later to make it a 4-1 contest. And no contest at all, really.

“That kind of (stuff)  happens, but you don’t want it to, no matter what,” Wedgewood told me after the game. “And yeah, I mean, if you dwell on it, you’re in a much worse situation. I got a good (eye) on that. I just lost it.”

“Did you guys get caught looking ahead at all?” I wondered.

“I mean, (Wednesday is) obviously important,” Wedgewood replied. “Everyone knows it’s on schedule. It’s circled. You know what it means … (You) get up and prepare. But no, there’s still a lot of hockey before the games really, really matter, right?”

Still, some games matter a heck of a lot more than others. The best three teams in hockey all play in the Central Division. I hate the Presidents’ Trophy more than the next guy, but that No. 1 seed has more weight this time around.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Avs topping the Stanley Cup bracket would also condemn Dallas and Minnesota (38-18-12) to play one another in the first round — an absolute cage fight that, in the NHL’s infinite wisdom, would immediately eliminate somebody who could win the whole thing. You know, the way the Avs were eliminated in seven games by Dallas 11 months ago. If the Stars leapfrog Colorado in the standings? Hello, St. Paul.

“Yeah, it was a big game (Monday),” MacKinnon said. “That was a game we kind of had to win. So, hopefully, we can bounce back.”

Hopefully, Bednar smells what Nate Dogg is cooking. Hopefully, he listens.

“Some of those breakdowns, I think, can be easily cured,” the coach reflected. “But, I mean, I think we’re going (to have to) talk more and we’ve got to get more competitive. A couple of them, we got beat up the ice (to have) guys all alone. A couple of them, we got beat off the walls (to have) guys all alone. And it’s just not good enough.”

It won’t be against Dallas, either. We’ll know Thursday morning whether Pittsburgh was a wake-up call or a warning siren. Buckle up.