Avalanche collapse against Knights, down 0-3 with insane meltdown

The Colorado Avalanche had to have this one on Sunday night.

And they couldn’t get it done.

The Avs lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, going down 0-3 in the series and now on the brink of elimination.

Even with the return of Cale Makar the Avs were cooked, ripping the hearts out of fans all over the world with an epic meltdown after a great first 20 minutes in which they led 3-0.

Colorado gave up three second period goals in wild fashion, letting Vegas back into a game it looked like they had. Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar all found the back of the net to make it 3-3.

Then in the third Tomas Hertl made it 4-3 followed by an empty-netter from Brett Howden to go up 5-3 and essentially end the series.

Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon took a puck to the knee and was in obvious pain at the end of the second. He fought through it but took a quick shift then headed back to the locker room. The concern with him was obvious as Colorado couldn’t afford to lose another top player. MacKinnon would return for parts of the third but was basically done and clearly not himself.

And it looked like the Avalanche were on it from the jump, taking the Knights crowd out of it with three first period goals.

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog got it to 1-0 early, followed by a beautiful goal from Nazem Kadri. Jack Drury would make it 3-0 shorthanded, moments after a Knights tally was taken off the board for batting the puck into the net with a hand.

Scott Wedgewood got the nod in net from Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar and played very well. He made 18 saves before Colorado fell apart, but it felt like it wasn’t Wedgewood’s fault. Colorado had too many defensive lapses in front of him.

The return of Makar was obviously huge as the Avs looked like an entirely different team with No. 8 back on the ice. That is until they melted down and lost.

This team is too good to go out with a whimper, but it appears that’ll be the case. The Avalanche will have Game 4 on Tuesday night to save their season.

It’s a stunning reality in what was supposed to be a Stanley Cup or bust year.

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