In his third career NHL game Wednesday night, rookie center Joey Hishon was asked to play a key role for the Avalanche. Coach Patrick Roy was desperate for scoring outside of his top two lines and wanted Hishon — the Avs’ first-round draft pick in 2010 — to infuse some skill on the third line.

No pressure. Just a Game 7 in the honeymoon of his big-league career.

And Hishon delivered, making a beautiful pass to the seam that Jamie McGinn redirected for a first-period goal and a 2-1 Avs lead.

“Patrick is showing confidence in me, and I couldn’t ask for anything else,” Hishon said after the morning skate Wednesday at the Pepsi Center. “Coming in here, I just wanted him to think about keeping me in the lineup every day. That was my plan coming in, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job with that. … I’m playing with two experienced guys, and I have to prove myself.”

Hishon played alongside wingers Max Talbot and Jamie McGinn. Talbot, 30, was in his fifth career NHL Game 7, the previous four with Pittsburgh, and the 25-year-old McGinn had gone the distance in an NHL playoff series in 2011 with San Jose.

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“He brings some skills to the third line, for sure,” Talbot said of Hishon, who played in Games 4 and 5 before being scratched in Game 6. “In the playoffs, you need secondary scoring, and right now it hasn’t been there. We need some of that, and Joey is definitely a guy who can bring some offense.”

Talbot added the Avs might have previously clinched the series if the third and fourth lines had done a better job of scoring. Fourth-line winger Cody McLeod scored a shorthanded goal in Game 5, but only the top two lines had scored at even strength until McGinn’s goal no the Hishon assist.

McGinn had a goal in Game 1 while playing a front-line role before Matt Duchene returned from injury. McGinn was pushed down to the third line when Duchene returned Monday. The lines began the playoffs out of whack because of the injuries to Duchene and regular third-line center John Mitchell, who has not played in the postseason.

The Avs unquestionably missed Mitchell throughout the series. But Hishon was determined to make up for the absence in Game 7.

“It’s definitely very exciting, and you have to enjoy the moment and have fun with it,” Hishon said. “Since I got here, I’ve learned a lot. You become a student of the game. When I’m around these guys, you’re learning every day whether you’re on the ice or not.”