LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Kings spent much of the season waiting for their role players to step up.The contributions they had been seeking finally came Lars Eller Jersey , putting the Kings on the verge of making the playoffs.Dustin Brown had a short-handed goal, and Torrey Mitchell and Kyle Clifford also scored to help Los Angeles move back into third place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for the Kings, who are one point ahead of Anaheim and can secure a postseason berth by earning one point from their final two games.”It’s a big step,” Brown said. ”Things have to go really wrong for us and really good for other teams, but you’re never in until you’re in.”Alexander Kerfoot had a power-play goal and Jonathan Bernier stopped 22 shots for the Avalanche.Colorado leads St. Louis by one point for the second Western Conference wild card, but the Blues have a game in hand. The Avalanche host the Blues on Saturday in the final game of the regular season for both.”We have a young team, but there are still no excuses,” Colorado defenseman Nikita Zadorov said. ”We know we should be in the playoffs. We are a good team and we’ve worked hard all season. We’ve got to get creative.”The Kings played more than 56 minutes with just five defensemen after Derek Forbort was injured when he was checked into the boards by Gabriel Bourque. Alec Martinez played a career-high 32:11, one of four Kings defensemen to play at least 20 minutes.”You ask big minutes out of those guys Madison Bowey Jersey , to dig in and play with different partners, possibly play the wrong side and different matchups than you’re accustomed to,” Kings coach John Stevens said. ”I thought that effort on the back end in terms of how far they dug in and how hard they competed was excellent.”Stevens could not update the condition of Forbort, who left the dressing room on crutches and unable to put any weight on his right leg.While their defensive depth was pushed to the limits, the Kings got some much-needed offense from their bottom two lines.Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead at 9:29 of the first period thanks to an opportunistic goal by Mitchell. Bernier was caught by surprise when Nate Thompson’s shot hit the boards and bounced into the crease, jumping into the air to avoid sending it back into his own net. Mitchell charged in to score his sixth of the season.Brown made it 2-0 at 12:32, scoring his 24th on a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle.Clifford scored on a wraparound two minutes into the third period to restore a two-goal lead for the Kings after Kerfoot cut the deficit to 2-1 at 4:33 of the second, going top shelf over Quick’s glove for his second goal in two games.Clifford ended a run of 12 games without a goal. Mitchell hadn’t scored since Feb. 20.”You see what guys are willing to do this time of year and emotionally invest in a game,” Stevens said. ”I thought everybody was willing to dig in when the game mattered. We all know the enormity of this game for both teams Nicklas Backstrom Jersey , and we knew it was going to take a second and third effort on a lot of plays to get it done.”NOTES: The Kings swept the season series against the Avalanche, limiting them to one goal in each of the three games. … Avalanche forward Colin Wilson had an assist after missing the previous five games with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTAvalanche: Visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.Kings: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.— Maple Leafs forward, Auston Matthews, injured his left shoulder on a play with Winnipeg Jets defenseman, Jacob Trouba, and now it appears Matthews will miss at least four weeks.The team reevaluated Matthews and determined that he would miss at least a month and will be placed on the injured reserve. Matthews spoke to the media about how frustrating his injuring is, and how hard he is going to work to get back to being healthy as soon as possible.The Maple Leafs wouldn't reveal the type of injury that Matthews sustained, only that it's significant enough that he needed to be placed on the IR.Auston Matthews says he won鈥檛 need surgery on his hurt shoulder. Similar in terms of what to him last season in separating his right shoulder (except this injury was to his left)— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 29, 2018advertisingMatthews sustained the injury in a collision with Trouba on a play in front of the Jets' net this past Saturday. After the collision James Neal Jersey Womens , Matthews immediately was hunched over聽holding his shoulder grimacing in pain.He then went straight to the dressing room and didn't return to the game. Head Coach, Mike Babcock, stated Saturday night after the game that Matthews wouldn't practice all weekend, and that he would be ruled out for Monday night's game against the Calgary Flames.It looks like Matthews will be able to avoid surgery on his shoulder. The injury appears to be less significant than last season when he separated his right shoulder. Matthews missed 20 games last season with that injury.advertisingFortunately for the Maple Leafs, they went 11-7-2 without Matthews last season. This time around, they have John Tavares to lean on until Matthews returns. Nazem Kadri will slide up to the second line in Matthews' place. NHL.comIt's very unfortunate for the Maple Leafs to lose Matthews after the hot start to the season he has had. Matthews has ten goals and 16 points in eleven games so far this season. He also leads his team in those same categories.Matthews currently sits fourth in goals and eighth in points among the league leaders. He will surely be missed by his teammates and coaches. But, the Maple Leafs still have one of the best offenses in the league even without Matthews.advertisingThe team will need Kadri and the rest of the second line to pick up the production lost without having Matthews in the lineup.