LOS ANGELES — Ross Colton was one of the first guys off the ice after morning skate ahead of Game 3. The first players off the ice are usually in the lineup, which was not the case for Colton in Games 1 and 2.

He wasn’t about to spill the beans when asked, though, and neither was coach Jared Bednar.

“I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals,” Bednar said with a smirk when asked by The Denver Gazette if Colton would draw into the lineup.

Colton did get his opportunity and he played well. Like everyone else in that Avalanche locker room, he’s a competitor. And while he was still rooting for his teammates to get the job done, the press box wasn’t where he wanted to be for those first two games.

“It sucks, honestly. Never been scratched in my life. That was the first time I’ve ever really been scratched,” Colton told The Denver Gazette on Saturday ahead of Game 4. “We’ve got a deep team, so it is what it is. When your number is called, just be ready to go. Stay positive, come to the rink every day, try to get better, and when I got in there, just try to play my game, be effective and bring a spark.”

Game 4 between the Avalanche and Kings is 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Colton found out he’d be a scratch for Game 1 after the Avalanche practiced ahead of the game. His response?

“Oh (expletive).”

Bednar said his message to Colton was to stay ready because they would need him at some point. Colorado’s healthy scratches to start the 2022 playoffs included Logan O’Connor and Alex Newhook, guys who played important roles for them at various points during their Stanley Cup run.

So Colton stayed ready. And in Game 3, he made a positive impact.

In just 8 minutes and 22 seconds of ice time, he finished with three shots on goal and had another two miss the net. He forced a turnover deep in the Los Angeles’ end in the third period that led to a scoring chance and eventually a penalty on the Kings. He also made his presence felt on the forecheck, throwing a big hit on Cody Ceci in the second period that created a scoring chance for Nic Roy.

He played well, even if he had some jitters.

“I was talking to some of the guys, I (was) a little nervous there in the first period,” Colton said. “You get chucked into Game 3 with a team down (and) out, kind of desperate. It was fast-paced, kind of tight-checking, so I just tried to keep it simple. Once I settled in the second or third, I felt just try to play my game, try and be physical and bring a little spark, and I thought we had some good chances.”

Bednar said he put Colton in to provide a spark to a second line that hasn’t been creating much offense for the Avalanche. Seeing as how Colton had more shot attempts than his two linemates combined, it seems like it worked for at least one game.

“You’re trying to find just a little bit of a spark, a little bit more offense if you can get it, and I thought he did that,” Bednar said of Colton. “I think he helped that line tonight. He had a couple good looks himself, and he checked hard and checked the right way.”

Colton practiced on that second line again ahead of Game 4, and it seems like a good bet he’ll get another crack as the Avalanche look to close out the Kings on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s a tough game to win, no question, the last one, but if we take care of our process and the things we’ve been talking about it’s going to give us our best chance,” Bednar said.

Odds are they will have to do so without Josh Manson, who left Game 3 with an upper-body injury. Bednar said that Manson is “sore” and “unlikely” to play in Game 4, which would mean Nick Blankenburg could be set to play his first career playoff game.

Blankenburg and Manson could not be more different with how they play the game, but he’s the next man up for the Avalanche.

“We need him to be solid defensively,” Bednar said of Blankenburg. “He’s perfectly capable of coming into our system and being a responsible defensive player and helping us move the puck out of the (defensive) zone and into the offensive zone.”