Wedgewood continues to shine in net as Avs take 3-0 series lead over Kings

[p]Avalanche goaltender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wedgewood-scott/lAPibPUq/"]Scott Wedgewood[/a] joins Carolina's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andersen-frederik/OhFcnMIJ/"]Frederik Andersen[/a] and Philadelphia's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vladar-daniel/AqbXiQ8C/"]Dan Vladar[/a] as the only three goalies in the playoffs so far to not allow more than two goals in each of their first three games[/p][p]All three of their teams are now one win away from sweeping their respective series.[/p][p]Wedgewood has now finished with exactly 24 saves in each of the three games against the Kings in these playoffs.[/p][p]Game 4 between the Avs and Kings is scheduled for Sunday, April 26th.[/p][h2]Recap & Highlights[/h2][p]It only took five minutes after puck-drop for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colorado-avalanche/hACAnvBa/"]Avalanche[/a] to get on the board first. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/landeskog-gabriel/6ikuwFTl/"]Gabriel Landeskog[/a] scored his second of the playoffs to give the Avs an early [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/colorado-avalanche-hACAnvBa/los-angeles-kings-CIDo8i2o/?mid=tnwzofvR"]1-0[/a] lead. [/b]The goal marked his fifth playoff goal as a game opener as he now sits at six-most in franchise history behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sakic-joe/6BjPxXQ8/"]Joe Sakic[/a] (16), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/forsberg-peter/A7XdQxCi/"]Peter Forsberg[/a] (12), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/blake-rob/tIbMTXxA/"]Rob Blake[/a] (8), current teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mackinnon-nathan/dhMyX3sE/"]Nathan MacKinnon[/a] (8), and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hejduk-milan/WQdyQlsI/"]Milan Hejduk[/a] (7).[/p][p]Both teams would go 0-for-1 on the power play as the minimal penalties, especially compared to other series, would continue in the second period.[/p][embed guid="e3cd0f66-e0ea-4d40-b01f-f26e7fb1004f" url="https://x.com/Avalanche/status/2047501324397494332?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Almost six minutes into the second, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-kings/CIDo8i2o/"]Kings[/a] would find themselves on the board with their first goal of the night. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moore-trevor/rgbn6659/"]Trevor Moore[/a] scored his first goal of the playoffs to tie things up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/colorado-avalanche-hACAnvBa/los-angeles-kings-CIDo8i2o/?mid=tnwzofvR"]1-1[/a][/b], with an assist by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/byfield-quinton/U31FxIdk/"]Quinton Byfield[/a], who became the fastest player in Kings history to reach the 10 career playoff assists milestone (22 games) since [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kopitar-anze/vNlBZ8Wo/"]Anze Kopitar[/a] (15 games), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brown-dustin/GtDRy2Hp/"]Dustin Brown[/a] (19 games), and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doughty-drew/WKguxKQ4/"]Drew Doughty[/a] (20 games) all did it in 2012.[/p][embed guid="59be2ce4-7309-4ae7-a7bb-7231757b4d00" url="https://x.com/LAKings/status/2047514951057862836?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]But the Avs wouldn't be denied, finding themselves up 2-1 yet again for the third game in a row. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/makar-cale/0QC5qYg0/"]Cale Makar[/a] scored his first of the playoffs to give the Avs the one-goal lead once more[/b]. He now sits behind Joe Sakic (77), Peter Forsberg (53), and MacKinnon (34) for most playoff go-ahead goals in franchise history with 32. [/p][embed guid="538f52ac-b8c6-4042-a63a-c4f337854a49" url="https://x.com/NHL/status/2047517732384448735?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Heading into the third period, both teams had just 10 combined penalty minutes. The Kings, despite being down, had outshot the Avs 19-15 at that point. [/p][p]Both had a 4-on-4 situation 14 minutes into the second after MacKinnon was called for embellishment, but neither team would be able to take advantage of the extra ice space. [/p][embed guid="8a06c339-ea8a-449b-9ee7-0f3918040f51" url="https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/2047521773978096017?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Avs would extend their lead on a short-handed opportunity that put them up by two goals almost eight minutes into the third. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lehkonen-artturi/Qidrk0XD/"]Artturi Lehkonen[/a] scored his second of the playoffs, which put the Avs up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/colorado-avalanche-hACAnvBa/los-angeles-kings-CIDo8i2o/?mid=tnwzofvR"]3-2[/a].[/b] He became the 12th Finnish player in NHL history to record 50 career playoff points. [/p][embed guid="4bea5c26-28fd-4bc8-9247-4f85696e7941" url="https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/2047529682086539275?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]But the Kings wouldn't go down without a fight in front of their home crowd. After going 0-for-3 on the power play through most of the game, LA would finally get one on the board during their fourth. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kempe-adrian/2gevhK8k/"]Adrian Kempe[/a] made it a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/colorado-avalanche-hACAnvBa/los-angeles-kings-CIDo8i2o/?mid=tnwzofvR"]3-2[/a] game with under five minutes to go.[/b] It was the first time in this series in which the Kings scored more than one goal. [/p][embed guid="e9c406eb-da61-40a8-b4d1-fd877a077e3f" url="https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/2047534192993382873?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Unfortunately for LA, it wasn't enough as [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nelson-brock/0lwG9VI6/"]Brock Nelson[/a] scored his first of the playoffs with an empty-netter that put the Avs up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/colorado-avalanche-hACAnvBa/los-angeles-kings-CIDo8i2o/?mid=tnwzofvR"]4-2[/a][/b] as they move to within one more win of eliminating the Kings in four games. [/p][embed guid="eae1cdfd-875d-4fc0-8d03-070e9c42fc8f" url="https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/2047534885095584240?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]