LOS ANGELES – The fans who say you can’t pass the puck into the back of the net were proven wrong by the Colorado Avalanche.

It wasn’t Colorado’s best performance of the series. In fact, it might have been their least complete. That ultimately did not matter, as they walked away with a 4-2 win in Los Angeles, giving them a commanding 3-0 series lead. The game-winning goal came off the stick of Artturi Lehkonen, although he didn’t exactly mean to put it in the back of the net himself.

While shorthanded, Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor broke away on a 2-on-1 with Adrian Kempe back defending. Lehkonen tried to pass it to O’Connor, but his pass hit Kempe’s skate and went directly through Forsberg’s legs, giving Colorado a 3-1 lead at that time. After another 6-on-4 for the Kings, their second of the series, Brock Nelson sealed the game, putting the puck into the empty net to restore Colorado’s two-goal lead.

Lehkonen’s goal wasn’t the only one that wasn’t intentionally put into the net. Gabriel Landeskog’s goal, the first that the Avalanche have scored in the first period this series, saw Landeskog just toss the puck in the general vicinity of the net. It went wide but bounced so hard off the boards that it hit Forsberg’s foot and went into the net.

On a night when the Avalanche weren’t at their best, bounces like that were welcome.

“There’s some times where you don’t get bounces like that. Tonight, it was a good start to the game. Definitely gave a little bit of a jolt to us,” Cale Makar said after the game.

The star on this night was, again, Scott Wedgewood. Los Angeles came out flying, playing its best period of the series in the first, but Wedgewood stood tall in net, stopping all 12 shots they took.

Josh Manson took just one shift over the final 40 minutes of the game after exiting with an upper-body injury, leaving the Avalanche with just five defensemen most of the night. Those five defensemen left did a heck of a job to close out the game, which their goaltender appreciated.

“Unbelievable,” Wedgewood said. “Just with the pace of it and all the forechecks and picking up rims, we got a good strctured game plan back there. They were smart … it sucks going down a guy, especially when they’re going to push in the third period, but couldn’t be prouder.”

Perhaps the most impressive statistic is that the Avalanche are up 3-0 in the series, yet Makar, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon have combined for just three points. That will have to change as they go deeper in the playoffs, but they’re showing they can win in different ways right now.

Avalanche 4, Kings 2

What happened: Colorado is proving it can win ugly consistently

What went right: You didn’t see 41-year-old Brent Burns throw his body around much during the regular season, but it looks like he was saving it for the postseason. He’s been a monster for Colorado and has thrown more hits in these three games than he did all season.

What went wrong: Josh Manson left and did not return, leaving the Avalanche to play most of the game with five defensemen. His absence would leave a hole on the blue line in terms of physicality.

Avalanche goal scorers: Landeskog (2), Makar (1), Lehkonen (2), Nelson (1)

Kings goal scorers: Moore (1), Kempe (1)

Between the pipes: Wedgewood finished with 24 saves.

What’s next: Game 4 between these teams is Sunday at 2:30 p.m.