The situation has officially gone from bad to disastrous for the Colorado Avalanche. After suffering a crushing 5-3 loss in Game 3 at T-Mobile Arena, the Avalanche now find themselves trailing the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in the Western Conference Final and sitting just one defeat away from elimination.
The stunning collapse has triggered widespread frustration among Colorado’s fan base, with some calling for head coach Jared Bednar to be fired despite the team’s dominant regular season and deep playoff run. But one longtime Edmonton insider is strongly pushing back against that knee-jerk reaction.
Oilers Insider Sounds Off on Avalanche Fans
The Avalanche entered the playoffs as one of the NHL’s top Stanley Cup favorites after capturing the Presidents’ Trophy with a league-best 121 points during the regular season.
Colorado then backed up those expectations early in the postseason, sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 before dispatching the Minnesota Wild in five games in Round 2.
That is why the current situation has become so shocking. After entering the Western Conference Final favored against Vegas, Colorado is now staring at a near-impossible comeback scenario, leading to growing anger directed toward Bednar and the coaching staff.
However, longtime Oilers insider Jim Matheson believes the criticism has become completely irrational. “All this talk from angry Avs fans that Jared Bednar should be fired, like he is a problem… c’mon. Avs at some point may be keeping seat warm for young Denver U David Carle but if Bednar was fired, he would be out of NHL work five mins,” Matheson said.
In Matheson’s view, firing Jared Bednar would not be logical, noting he is the winningest coach in Colorado Avalanche history, a Stanley Cup champion, and would quickly land another NHL job.
Matheson also pushed back against fans blaming coaching and goaltending every time a contender struggles in the playoffs. “Low hanging fruit with angry hockey fans when their team is losing: fire the coach and/or goaltending isn’t good enough. Bednar didn’t get dumb overnight and you were singing praises of Wedgewood, one half of Lumber Yard, much of Avs season,” he added.
Wedgewood became a fan favorite during the regular season after helping anchor Colorado’s goaltending tandem and finishing with a remarkable 31-6-6 record. But now, fans quickly shifted to blaming the coaching staff and the goaltending the moment the series against Vegas began slipping away.
Avalanche Blow Three-Goal Lead in Crushing Game 3 Loss
For much of the opening period in Game 3, it looked like Colorado was finally about to turn the series around. The Avalanche stormed out to a 3-0 lead through goals from Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, and Jack Drury, completely overwhelming Vegas early.
But the Golden Knights responded with five unanswered goals in one of the most devastating collapses of Colorado’s season.
Mitch Marner once again played a major role with two assists, increasing his NHL-leading playoff tally to 21 points, while Tomáš Hertl and William Karlsson helped drive Vegas’ relentless offensive pressure.
Now, the Avalanche are attempting to accomplish something only four teams in NHL history have ever achieved: overcoming a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series.
