The Vegas Golden Knights did what Los Angeles and Minnesota couldn’t in the first two rounds of the playoffs — beat the Colorado Avalanche on their ice.
Vegas stole Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with a 4-2 win Wednesday night. The Golden Knights will try to sweep the road trip when the teams meet for Game 2 on Friday night in Denver.
The Golden Knights improved to 5-2 on the road in these playoffs and 16-4-1 overall since head coach John Tortorella took over with eight games remaining in the regular season. They went from fighting for a playoff spot to three wins away from a third trip to the Stanley Cup Final and a potential second championship in their nine-year existence.
Vegas beat the Presidents’ Trophy winners with a strong forecheck and one unexpected goal source: Defenseman Dylan Coghlan scored the first playoff goal of his career in just his eighth NHL game this season.
“Our players aren’t fazed,” Tortorella said. “We’ve gone over how we want to play. It’s not changed from series to series, quite honestly. We’re trying to play our game, not worrying too much about countering off another team. We’re going to try to play our game, and I think they feel very comfortable in it.”
The Golden Knights were still without captain Mark Stone, who hasn’t played since Game 3 against Anaheim in the conference semifinals. Stone is dealing with a lower-body injury and doesn’t seem likely to play in Game 2.
Superstar Colorado defenseman Cale Makar also sat out Game 1 with an upper-body injury, just the second time in his career he missed a playoff game due to injury. Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy when the Avalanche captured the Stanley Cup four years ago, skated at the team’s optional practice on Thursday but his status won’t be determined until Friday.
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” head coach Jared Bednar said after Thursday’s practice.
With or without Makar, Friday night is a near must-win for Colorado, which has been forthcoming all season that its only satisfactory finish is winning another Stanley Cup. The Avalanche struggled Wednesday night against the Vegas forecheck, but they found some room in the third period when they cut their deficit to 3-2 on goals by Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog.
Nichushkin’s line, which includes center Nazem Kadri and winger Ross Colton, generated chances. Kadri nearly scored in the final seconds of the first period, only to be denied with a great save by Carter Hart. Bednar said while the team struggled to create scoring opportunities, Nichushkin found success in the dirty area.
“Look where he scores his goal, and if you look at a couple of other chances he had, they’re right in the blue paint,” Bednar said. “Historically, that’s where Val tends to get his best chances.”
The Avalanche will need more from the top two lines, which were held down for most of the game. Nathan MacKinnon, who had just three shots on goal and was blanketed on most shifts, said his team needs to be better overall.
“We just weren’t sharp,” MacKinnon said afterward. “Execution was poor from everybody. Yeah, just got to be sharper than that.”
