The Los Angeles Kings are on the brink of elimination as they prepare to face the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.
The Avalanche are coming off a 4-2 victory in Game 3, capitalising on Kings’ errors. An unfortunate bounce off Kings goalie Anton Forsberg’s skate led to the Avalanche’s first goal.
Kings Aim to Stay Loose and Extend Series
Forward Scott Laughton stressed the importance of maintaining focus. “It’s tough this time of year. We’ve got to stick to the process, and obviously you don’t like being down. Well, we’re down, but we’re in this situation, and you start with one game and one period, your first shift, and you go from there and see what happens.”
Interim coach D.J. Smith suggested a more relaxed approach. “You know the ultimate end result if you don’t win, so sometimes when that happens, you grip it a little less and you make a play maybe that you wouldn’t have made early on. But I can tell you this: I just finished doing the game, there are a lot of guys playing hard and giving everything they have to win a hockey game. It hasn’t gone our way. The No. 1 thing you can’t do is get down on yourself, get down on your team, get down on your teammates and I don’t see any of that in the room.”
Avalanche Focused on Defensive Game
The Avalanche are aware that closing out a series is a challenge. Forward Nathan MacKinnon spoke about the team’s mindset. “If we get, we get it. If we don’t, we don’t. We’ll be ready for the next one. The goal is to play a great game and we’ll see where that takes us,”
MacKinnon is pleased with the Avalanche’s defensive commitment. “We’re super committed to our defensive game. Everyone’s on the same page, everyone’s playing super hard. Guys are playing awesome, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Blankenburg to Debut as Manson Sidelined
Josh Manson is unlikely to participate for the Avalanche due to an upper-body injury sustained in Game 3. Nick Blankenburg is set to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in place of Manson. Blankenberg recorded three points (two goals, one assist) in 12 games for the Avalanche this season. Coach Jared Bednar stated that they need Blankenburg “to be solid defensively.”
Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series have a strong record of closing it out.
- There have been 213 teams taking a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series.
- Of those, 98 percent win the series (209-4).
- 129 won in four games.
- Eight of the past 10 series that were 3-0 advanced to at least Game 5 (dating to the start of the 2023 first round).
The Kings will need to win Game 4 to force the series back to Colorado.