Vegas Golden Knights Look To Finish Off Colorado Avalanche At Home Following Surprising 2-0 Series Lead
Going against the odds, the Las Vegas Golden Knights have taken a 2-0 advantage over the higher-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the 2026 Stanley Cup Western Conference Final. It’s not overly surprising to see the Avalanche have more trouble with Vegas, but seeing them down two games while at home is certainly a shock.
The Avalanche will head on the road for Games 3 and 4. The winner of this series will play the winner of the Eastern Conference. In that series, the Montréal Canadiens lead the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0.
Game 2 Recap: Golden Knights Win 3-1
After taking Game 1 with a 4-2 score, Vegas knew that they needed to press their advantage before heading home. On May 22, the Avalanche played once again without key Defenseman Cole Makar, who’s been off for two games now with an injury, and Vegas has been missing their captain, Mark Stone, for five games with a lower-body injury.
Ross Colton of Colorado was the first to score and the only one to score in a tight first period that featured a few fights. No one scored in the second period, then the Golden Knights surged past the Avalanche with a trio of unanswered goals. First, Jack Eichel got a goal, and then Ivan Barbashev scored twice to give his team an important 3-1 win.
Avalanche Goalie Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves, and Golden Knights Goaltender Carter Hart made 29 saves. It was a so-so performance from Wedgewood, and once again, the Avalanche led in shots, 30-25. Colorado hasn’t been put under that much pressure since falling to the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 3 of Round 2, and couldn’t quite hold up against it.
Post-Game 2 Reactions
The Golden Knights were excited about the two-game advantage going into two home games,
“We found a way,” Vegas Coach John Tortorella said. “I thought the key part of the game was (it was) a real struggle in the second period for us, but we still entered the locker room just down 1-0. I thought that was the key moment of the game, and we felt we were in a good spot going into the third down by a goal in this building, Game 2. We just wanted to keep on playing.
“We’re trying to play our game the way we feel we need to play, and we found a way. We’re going to have to be better each and every game. They’re going to be better. We’re going to have to be better in all areas, especially some of the situational play.”
Defenseman Dylan Cochlan of the Golden Knights wasn’t overly surprised that his team was able to pull off two wins over the Avalanche. “I don’t think people had this in their bingo card, but I think the guys in this room, we knew we could do it, and our goal was to come here and get two,” he said. “We weren’t satisfied with the split, so I think getting back home and in front of our fans, I mean T-Mobile Arena gets rocking. So hopefully it’s rocking.”
Meanwhile, the Avalanche were disappointed to be in a deficit to the Golden Knights going on the road.
“We dug a hole. It’s on us,” Forward Logan O’Connor said. “We’ve got to reset, go into Vegas and do the same thing they did to us. It starts with one game and just chip away at this thing. There are things we can learn from that game. I think we got away from our game plan in the third period. We let them hang around throughout the game, and they’re going to capitalize on their opportunities.”
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