Bednar: Avalanche will take a limited MacKinnon down 3-0 - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Just when the Avalanche got back reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, Colorado might be without Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon.

Or, at least, will have a highly limited MacKinnon, which was what he was after taking a puck to his right knee in Sunday night's 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

It has been that kind of series for the Avalanche, the Presidents' Trophy winners going down 3-0 in the Western Conference finals. With the possibility of being swept Tuesday night, coach Jared Bednar will take MacKinnon in any form he can get him.

«For him to be able to come back out, get some work done late in the second period and intermission and be able to come out and even help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that's all he can do, we'll take it,» Bednar said. «It's better than anything else, in my opinion, we can put on the ice.»

That comment could get plenty of attention in the Avalanche locker room, but as it is, the Golden Knights have Colorado's full focus.

The odds might have been in the Avalanche's favor before the series began — the team with the league's best record going against one so desperate to make the playoffs that it fired its coach with eight games remaining — but not now.

The numbers, in fact, are daunting.

This is the 50th time in the conference finals or division semifinals that a series has gone to 3-0. All previous 49 teams with that advantage went on to make the Stanley Cup Final, with 47 ending the series in six games or fewer.

Only four teams have erased 3-0 deficits in any round. Los Angeles in 2014 was the most recent team to accomplish that in eliminating San Jose in their first-round series.

And then there's the so-called Presidents' Trophy curse. Chicago