Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon will return to the lineup for Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at T-Mobile Arena.
He sustained a right knee injury in the previous match.
The Avalanche trail 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
All 49 previous NHL teams holding a 3-0 lead in this playoff round have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed that MacKinnon, who led the league with 53 regular-season goals, will not face performance limitations after absorbing a Shea Theodore slapshot on Sunday.
“No, I think we'll be able to use him,” Bednar said. “He's feeling a lot better today.
We'll see when he gets on the ice tonight and what the game brings, but he's feeling pretty good today and feels like he'll be ready to go.”
Bednar added that the team's medical staff worked extensively to prepare the center for unencumbered play following the traumatic impact.
“Everyone's seen the play; the shot hits him in the knee and that can be traumatizing, especially early on,” Bednar said.
“There are things that the trainers can do to try and get that feeling better and loosen up and get him to a spot where he can play unencumbered.
It's about how fast we can get him there and get him out there.”
MacKinnon returned for limited shifts during Game 3 to assist on special teams and empty-net situations despite visible discomfort.
“He was clearly in a ton of pain,” Bednar said. “I've been here 10 years and I've seen Nate lay on the ice twice.
I've seen him leave a couple games, one in the playoffs against San Jose a couple of years ago and last night and still come back and it's not a great feeling for a team.
For him to be able to come back out, get some work done late in the second period and intermission and to be able to come back and help us on the power play and empty-net situations, if that's all he can do, then we'll take it.
It's better than anything else we can put on the ice, in my opinion. It just shows his character, his leadership and desire to win.”
Goaltending Change
In addition to MacKinnon's return, the Avalanche will insert goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood into the starting role, replacing Scott Wedgewood for the elimination game.
“Yeah, he’ll play,” Bednar said.
Bednar explained that changing netminders serves as a strategic adjustment rather than a panic move given the current series deficit.
“We're at 0-3 in the series, so it's not a desperation move, it's, 'you've got to make a change and see if something else works.'
We have nothing to lose. It's the first time he's entering (the series).
It's not like we're putting the weight of the series on Mackenzie,” Bednar said.
Blackwood has not played since being pulled during a May 13 game against Minnesota.
“I feel like if he's loose and confident and playing his game he has the ability to not only win us games, but steal games,” Bednar said.
Bednar noted that Wedgewood had earned the prior starts, but the team failed to secure a victory in Game 3.
“We felt confident with both these guys all year long, and I felt like Wedge kind of earned the net in (Games 1 and 2) and we gave him the shot in Game 3 and we didn't get it done.
It's not on him either, it's on our team,” Bednar said.
The Avalanche held a team meeting on Monday evening to recalibrate their focus before facing elimination.
“Our team’s played with more intensity and more desperation as the series (has) gone on,” Bednar said. “Hasn’t worked out for us yet.
I think with the hill to climb, it’s definitely a tough one.
It just doesn’t happen very often, and we’re certainly understanding of that, but I think we have a lot of pride and a lot of character in our room that displayed that time over time throughout the course of the year.”
Bednar expects a fierce performance from his players given the high stakes.
“This will be our most difficult challenge, but I believe that we will show up and we will be ready to play,” Bednar said.
Player Reactions
Avalanche teammates expressed confidence in their collective depth to support the roster adjustments for Game 4.
“Everyone has to step up, I think that's the key,” forward Nazem Kadri said.
“Collectively we have the depth to do that, and I think we have multiple guys in this dressing room that can be that guy and that can step up in big moments, so this is no different.”
Defenseman Cale Makar, who logged significant ice time in Game 3 after returning from injury, stressed a short-term focus.
“At the end of the day, this series is far from over in our minds,” Makar said.
“Every team’s trying to win four games in a series and we’re still trying to do that.
Our process this series has been day by day and now it’s even more evident. We’ve got to chip away and see where the chips may fall.
For us, it starts tonight and making sure we feel good with our game and continuing how we started that first period and being more consistent.
They’re playing with a lot of confidence and we have no reason to not do the same.”
Defenseman Josh Manson reiterated that the team must balance extreme desperation with disciplined execution.
“There’s going to be a sense of urgency, but it’s got to be smart urgency,” Manson said. “It’s got to be desperation.
It’s got to be our best style of play the whole night. You’ve got to maintain that sense of do or die, while playing up to the edge.
That’s what makes it so difficult.
The margin of error is so thin now, and you’ve got to be able to balance that for at least 12 periods.”
Winger Martin Necas added that the team has previously proven capable of putting together extended winning streaks during the regular season.
“We know where we’re at,” Necas said. “We know it doesn’t happen very often, but we still feel confident in this group.
It’s not like we’ve been outplayed every game and their team is better than ours.
We had a lot of stretches this season where we won four in a row.
So we just focus on the next game and take it home and anything can happen.”
On the Vegas side, forward Pavel Dorofeyev commented on his disallowed goal from the first period of Game 3, which was overturned after a video review showed the puck striking his glove.
“No, not really,” Dorofeyev said. “I haven’t won a single challenge yet, so I wasn’t surprised there.”
Defenseman Shea Theodore noted that securing the final victory to eliminate an opponent remains the toughest task in any playoff series.
“I think the fourth win is always the hardest to get, whether it's a first round, second round or conference final,” Theodore said.
“We’re going to expect their best. For them, it’s win or go home.
We have to match that intensity from the start.
I think we can have a better start than we did in Game 3 and just build our game.”
