The NHL schooling of Cale Makar is six games deep and the Avalanche rookie defenseman is learning his first big lesson of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To sum up it in one word: Physicality.

“You’ve got to be ready to be hit at all times,” Makar said.

And, in return, you must be capable of dishing out pain. That goes for the entire roster. Since if the Avalanche-Sharks series were a heavyweight bout, San Jose blows would have Colorado seeing stars. Avs coach Jared Bednar explained his team’s play in a Game 3 loss as “adorable ” and “soft. ” A mindset change is necessary for Colorado to the series Thursday night inside Pepsi Center.

Easier said than done considering San Jose’s ultra-aggressive approach.

“They always have numbers around the puck so you’re dealing with more than one guy on most occasions when you find room offensively and it’s the exact same thing about the defensive side,” Bednar said. “You do the right thing against a single guy and the guy is right on top of you again. That space and time disappear. You have men leaning all the time and it becomes harder and harder to handle it on this level when you’re playing a team like the Sharks. That’s what they’re good at. ”

Teammate need look no farther than Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov for a source of inspiration. His 11 strikes on Tuesday night were the third most in Colorado postseason history. Zadorov’s relentless assault extended to his words, too, like a scuffle with Sharks forward Michael Haley where Zadorov stated he landed this verbal jab: “I told him, ‘You’re playing 5 minutes and I’m playing 20. ’”

“Aggressive hitting, that’s rdquo, & my game; Zadorov stated. “There are no friends on the ice. ”

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Zadorov’s teammates can accommodate his mindset, even if they could t replicate his towering 6-foot-5 frame. How can Colorado’s players react to San Jose’s pressure?

“You don’t want large hits to be physical,” Zadorov stated. “You can be physical in the forecheck if you skate 50 miles per hour and you can distinguish him. … To only kill someone and everybody . However, play with more offensive zone and the point of the hit is to get the puck back. That’s our objective. I don’t think we had that commitment (Tuesday) for 60 minutes. ”

Makar, specifically, has flashed offensive skill. But he has lost multiple net-front conflicts in which San Jose simply out-toughed the 20-year-old. As the series moves forward, expect an aggression uptick.

“He’s still trying to figure out what he can get away with in the front of the net when he’s defending,” Bednar said. “We’re trying to give him just as much advice there as we could because he can get away with a lot this time of the year. That’s a little bit new to him, too, but I expect him to continue to make adjustments and get better. ”

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