ANAHEIM, Calif. — Dylan Coghlan isn’t coming off the bench completely cold. The defenseman has played some important hockey games the past few weeks.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a different animal, and Coghlan is making his NHL postseason debut for the Vegas Golden Knights in an important Game 3 against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday at Honda Center.

Coghlan will replace Kaedan Korczak on the third pairing, skating with Ben Hutton.

Jeremy Lauzon (upper body) remains out.

“I think the message for me is don’t change anything,” Coghlan said. “Play my game, be a little bit gritty.”

The 28-year-old blue liner is in his second tour of duty with the Knights.

Coghlan was undrafted but came up through the Knights organization. He appeared in 88 games from 2021-22 and had six goals and 19 points.

He was involved in the trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Carolina in July 2022. Coghlan appeared in 24 games over the next three seasons with the Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets.

Coghlan signed a one-year deal with the Knights and scored a career-high 44 points in Henderson this season.

“I think as the season went on, I was finding my game a little bit more,” Coghlan said. “There are different systems in every team you got to. I had a bit of a slow start and then picked it up halfway through. I’m playing the best hockey of my career, I feel like.”

Coghlan brings a powerful shot to the lineup, giving each pairing someone who isn’t afraid to put the puck on net.

Korczak played 11:31 in Wednesday’s Game 2 loss, registering no shots and a minus-1 for the second straight game.

“A lot of positive feedback on (Coghlan),” coach John Tortorella said. “(Korczak’s) just struggled a little bit in certain situations. I don’t think he’s been terrible, but we just want a change and we’ll see where we go with it.”

Tortorella has emphasized having the puck more in the offensive zone, and Coghlan might be able to help assist with that with a shot-first mentality.

“He’s got a cannon,” Hutton said. “Any time he gets a chance to use, I’m going to tell him to do it. Don’t worry about the D-to-D (passing). I’ll be going down there if there’s a rebound.”

Coghlan was called up from Henderson prior to the start of the series. He had one assist in three games with the Silver Knights at the beginning of their run in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Coghlan said. “I feel like I’ve been around it a lot. It’s going to be exciting.”