LOS ANGELES — Goals are sexy. Goals are fun. Goals have also been hard to come by through two games of a series against the Kings.

That’s OK with the Avalanche.

They were the highest-scoring team in the NHL during the regular season, but they’re more than happy to show the world they don’t need a lot of goals to win a game. The goals they scored at the other end perhaps overshadowed the fact that no team gave up fewer goals than the Avalanche this season.

Game 3 between the Avalanche and Kings will take place in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The Kings, a team that already had issues finding the back of the net, is learning so the hard way.

Through two games, the Kings have found the back of the net zero times at even strength. In Tuesday’s overtime loss to Colorado, a game the Kings were a few minutes away from winning, they generated less than one expected goal for in nearly 54 minutes of 5-on-5 action. The Kings aren’t giving the Avalanche a ton of room to create offense, but they haven’t exactly had it any easier at the other end.

“We’re comfortable playing these type of games, especially in playoffs,” Nicolas Roy said after playing the role of hero with the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win Tuesday. “A team like L.A., we knew it wasn’t going to be a high-scoring game. … We feel really good about our five-on-five game, as well, so we feel good in those type of games.”

Make no mistake, the Avalanche want to generate more offense. At times, they’ve pushed the pace offensively and forced Anton Forsberg to be at the top of his game, particularly toward the end of the second period in Game 2. But if there’s no room to create anything through the neutral zone, cheating to try and make something out of nothing could lead to more bad than good.

They’ve stayed patient through 120-plus minutes during the series, and they’re more than happy to continue doing so if that’s what is required of them.

“I’m happy with the way we’ve been sticking with it, and we have absolutely no problem playing this way. I think we like playing this way,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “(Our) defensive metrics, I think, over the season, we were one of the top teams, if not the (top team). We know what we need to do to be successful and to be hard to play against defensively. For us, that’s kind of where our game, where it starts, is our checking game. So that’s important, and L.A.’s a very good team. But having said that, we’re comfortable playing these games, and I thought we did a good job of just being patient with it, not forcing anything off the rush.”

A big part of Colorado’s offense comes from their defensemen. Both goals they scored Sunday involved defensemen getting things started at the point. The Avalanche would love to push the pace even more, but you can only take what you’re given when the margin for error is so small.

“I think we just play our game,” defenseman Devon Toews said. “It’s tough sledding out there a little bit just trying to create offense. We’re doing a great job defending and limiting their chances and hopefully we can continue to create more and put a few more in the back of the net.”