Including the playoffs, Colorado is 33-11 at home. They need. They have McKinnon. This seems like a seven gamer.

I'm going to chalk Game 3 up as an anomaly. Both goaltenders were very good -- Georgiev allowed two goals (two of Dallas' goals were empty-netters, and Oettenger was simply phenomenal in allowing one. I expect both teams to be better offensively on Monday night. Look for an extreme sense of urgency out of the Avs and the likes of MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar, and Nichuskin. Colorado may also be welcoming back Jonathan Drouin, who has missed the entire postseason. As usual...SGP will be posted on Twitter.

While this isn't technically an elimination game, the Avs simply cannot afford to lose both home games and fall behind 3-1 in the series. Colorado not only lost in Game 3, but they were thoroughly dominated in doing so. It's hard for me to fathom another lackluster performance from MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar, and Nichuskin. I love Dallas' team and its depth, but the Avs were the best home team in the NHL this season and I expect that to show on Monday night.

Dallas is excellent, but it still would be moderately surprising for the Avs to lose back-to-back home playoff games. Nathan MacKinnon (9-12—21 in 18 GP), Mikko Rantanen (6-15—21 in 18 GP) and Cale Makar (2-14—16 in 12 GP) have plenty of experience in games where the Avalanche trailed in a playoff round. And Colorado might get back injured forward Jonathan Drouin tonight. He scored a career-high 56 points in 79 games this season but was hurt in the RS finale. Drouin is a game-time call.

Colorado cannot afford to drop both games at home and head back to Dallas down 3-1, and I expect them to step up and avoid such a fate. The Avs were 31-10 at home in the regular season and are 2-1 in Colorado this postseason. I just think this Avalanche team is too good to go down without a fight, so give me a big Nathan MacKinnon game and a Colorado win this evening.

Though the Avs were involved in their first "under" of the postseason in Saturday's loss to the Stars at Ball Arena, they had scored a whopping 35 goals across their first seven Stanley Cup games this spring. A bit manic, this Colorado, perhaps explaining the 2-1 deficit it must overcome vs. Dallas, but a good flag-bearer for the "over" trend in the second round that now stands 11-3 into Monday's games. Dallas precision has allowed it to score 12 goals across the first three games of this series, so a return to the higher-scoring trends in Game 4 would be no surprise. Play Stars-Avs "Over"