Colorado Avalanche center Nicolas Roy, right, pursues the puck as Vegas Golden Knights center Colton Sissons defends in the third period on April 11 in Denver. (AP file photo)

Now a veteran of more than 50 NHL playoff games, Jack Eichel does not think the approach should be any different the deeper he and the Vegas Golden Knights venture into the postseason.

“We know we need to be better, and you want to continue to elevate your game both individually and as a team the further you go,” Eichel said. “That’s our goal.”

Easier said than done. Big boy hockey has arrived in the third round, with three of the top five favorites still playing in the conference finals. Vegas faces league-best Colorado in the West, while unbeaten beast-of-the-East Carolina gets the winner of Game 7 between Buffalo and Montreal, which was played Monday night.

Western Conference final

Colorado vs. Vegas

Game 1: Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Favorite: Colorado

The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular season and spent 156 consecutive days atop the NHL standings since Nov. 1, the longest run in four decades. They swept Los Angeles in the first round and beat Minnesota in five games, rallying to put the Wild away in overtime after falling behind 3-0 on the road.

Now, the difficulty level rachets up.

“I would expect Colorado’s stiffest challenge is going to come here in this next series because Vegas has been around the block,” former player and coach-turned-TNT analyst Ed Olczyk said. “They’ve got an experienced coach. They’re getting goaltending that they didn’t get for a lot of the regular season.”

Backstopped by Carter Hart and led by Mitch Marner, the Golden Knights are in the West final for the fourth time in their nine years of existence. It’s their first under coach John Tortorella, who took over in late March and oversaw a 7-0-1 run to finish the season and more success in the playoffs.

Eastern Conference final

Carolina vs. Buffalo or Montreal

Game 1: Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, TNT, TruTV

Favorite: Carolina

The Hurricanes are the first team to sweep through the first two rounds since the NHL went to four best-of-seven series in 1987. Their gift is 11 full days off before starting the East final.

“Obviously that’s not great,” Olczyk said. “That’s not ideal, but you’d rather have that than play back-to-back seven-game series and probably having guys being taped up to just get out there.”

Carolina captain Jordan Staal feels the same way, shrugging of the concern about rust and saying, “If anyone in the league was in a playoff series and they had the opportunity to win in four or seven, they would pick four.”

One more victory would tie the 1985 Edmonton Oilers for the longest winning streak to start a playoffs.

With back-to-back champion Florida not making it after injuries derailed the Panthers’ season and other perennial contenders like Toronto and Tampa Bay out of the way, the sea has parted for the Hurricanes to get over the hump. They’ve won at least a round in each of Rod Brind’Amour’s eight years as coach but have not yet reached the Stanley Cup Final.

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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Denver, Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl