DENVER (AP) — The signs appear grim for the Colorado Avalanche: Down 2-0 after two home losses. Missing Cale Makar. Three goals in the series for the highest scoring team in the league. Heading to Vegas. History working against them.
“We dug a hole,” forward Logan O’Connor said as the Avalanche prepared for Game 3 at Vegas on Sunday night in the Western Conference Final. “It’s on us (to get out)."
The odds, though, are stacked against them. Since 1982, road teams that have gone 2-0 in the conference finals have a 13-0 series record, according to NHL Stats.
But the Avalanche have worked their way back from a similarly dicey situation before in a playoff series.
Granted, it was 27 years ago when they lost two straight at home to start the 1999 Western Conference semifinals against Detroit before rallying to win.
“Uphill climb,” Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood said. “We have to flip the script on them, in their rink.”
Perhaps a change of scenery can provide a spark. Colorado went 2-0 at Vegas in the regular season, including a 6-5 shootout victory.
“Any building you go into, you can kind of use the crowd noise and advantage in your favor,” forward Parker Kelly said. “Teams come out hard in their home building, so we’ve got to be able to weather the storm, push back and get to our game quick.”
It wasn't that long ago when Vegas overcame some long odds. The Golden Knights trailed Colorado 2-0 in a second-round series in 2021, only to win four straight. Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy recalls it well — he was with the Golden Knights back then.
“We’ve just got to put on our work boots,” Roy said. “If you have a great effort next game and you win it, then obviously shift the momentum. We believe in this group.”
Colorado very well could have back Makar, who is up for the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman. He has been sidelined all series by an upper-body injury.
“He will tell us when he’s ready to play,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “No one can go into Cale’s body and feel what he’s feeling, so when he feels like he can do all the things he needs to be able to do on the ice to play, then he’s going to make the decision to play.”
The vibe in the room is some anger mixed with some frustration, Bednar said.
“Which I think is normal. It’s all fine,” said Bednar, whose team is outshooting the Golden Knights by a 68-53 margin. "We’ve got to be better than we were in Game 1 and 2. It’s not like we didn’t go and compete hard or play harder, but again, with it being such a fine line, a mistake or two can cost you the hockey game. We need to do a little bit better job of forcing them into a few more mistakes, and we have to clean up some of our own.”
Some of Colorado's top scorers have struggled against the Golden Knights' stingy defense. Only captain Gabriel Landeskog, Ross Colton and Valeri Nichushkin have goals on Carter Hart in the series. Nathan MacKinnon, who had a league-leading 53 goals in the regular season, has been neutralized, along with 100-point scorer Martin Necas. Another dependable offensive contributor, Brock Nelson, is a minus-5 in the series.
“If I felt like we played our best game in Game 1 and our best game in Game 2 and we lost, I’d be a little bit more like, ‘Oh, I’m really worried about this,’” Bednar said. "They still haven’t seen our best, and maybe we haven’t seen their best, either. We have a number of areas in our game that we can improve for Game 3 to give us a better chance of winning.”
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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, center, pursues the puck with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski, left, and center Ross Colton during the second period in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Friday, May 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, left, checks Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel during the second period in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Friday, May 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb, bottom left, shoots against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, right, after driving past defenseman Brett Kulak, top left, during the third period in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Friday, May 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarization “Fjord” has won the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s top honor that on Saturday went for the second time to the Romanian director of “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.”
This year's edition of the festival saw few films breakout but “Fjord” found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism.”
The film stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian Evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have their children taken from them by child services for spanking them.
Mungiu becomes just the 10th filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or twice. His “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” a Romanian abortion drama, won the award in 2007.
The win also extended Neon’s unprecedented streak of Palme d’Or winners. The specialty label has been attached to the last seven Palme winners.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival draws to a close Saturday with the presentation of one of cinema’s highest honors, the Palme d’Or. This year, the race may be wide open.
By wide consensus, it hasn’t been a banner festival. Hollywood largely sat out this year’s edition. Many of the selections struggled to bowl over critics. The global buzz that Cannes typically generates was fitful at best.
But the lack of a clear front-runner should give the nine-member jury, headed by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, a range of possibilities for the Palme. Winning Cannes' top honor almost immediately raises the international profile of a film, and likely sets it up as an Oscar contender, too.
Some of the festival’s best received films include Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Fatherland,” a black-and-white postwar rumination on art and politics; Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden,” a tender three-hour elder care opus; Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur,” a drama of crime and punishment in contemporary Russia; and Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set child services nightmare “Fjord.”
But on the second-to-last day of the festival, a possible dark horse emerged. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's “The Black Ball” found one of Cannes' most passionate receptions. The sprawling Spanish film tells a story of three gay men across generations.
But few awards are harder to predict than the Palme d’Or. The jury’s deliberations are entirely private. Any of the 22 films in competition in Cannes can win. This year's jury also includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård.
Those who are chosen for a prize — others to be handed out Saturday include best actress, best actor and the grand prix — are asked by the festival to return to Cannes for the closing ceremony. They know they've won something, but they don't know what. Typically, juries award only one prize per movie.
One of the movies’ most extraordinary streaks is on the line. Neon, the specialty label, has been attached to the last six Palme d’Or winners. That includes last year’s champion, Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” and the 2024 winner, “Anora.” The latter went on to win best picture at the Oscars.
Saturday’s ceremony will be missing its tribute honoree. Barbra Streisand was to receive an honorary Palme d’Or, but a knee injury will prevent her from attending. The festival still plans to honor Streisand.
Adam Driver, from left, director James Gray and Miles Teller pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Paper Tiger' during the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Sebastian Stan, from left, director Cristian Mungiu and Renate Reinsve pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Fjord' during the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Tao Okamoto, from left, director Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Virginie Efira pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'All of a Sudden' during the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Iris Lebedeva, director Andrey Zvyagintsev and Dmitriy Mazurov pose for photographers at the photo call for the film Minotaur' at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Photo by Millie Turner/Invision/AP)
Director Paweł Pawlikowski poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Fatherland' during the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
