Vegas Golden Knights Sweep Colorado Avalanche In Stunning Round 3 Win
In the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final, going against all expectations, the Vegas Golden Knights swept the Colorado. They won Game 4 at home with a final score of 2-1 in regulation for a fantastic victory.
The Golden Knights last won the Stanley Cup in 2023 in a breakthrough season for them. The Avalanche were the favorites to advance and simply couldn’t hold up. After a shocking collapse from a top seed, their playoff run is over.
Vegas will advance to the Stanley Cup Final for just the third time in franchise history and play either the Carolina Hurricanes or the Montréal Canadiens out of the Eastern Conference. That looks to be an exciting series as the Hurricanes lead 2-1, with the Canadiens being the only team to win a game against them so far in the playoffs.
Game 4 Recap: Vegas Completes the Sweep
Coming into last night’s game with a 3-0 lead, the Golden Knights were fired up and ready to finish off their higher-seeded opponents. The Avalanche had some hope in Cale Makar’s return after a few games off, and had Nathan MacKinnon in the lineup despite him taking a puck to the knee in Game 3. Valeri Nicushkin did not play after exiting Game 3 with an injury.
For Vegas, captain Mark Stone and Cole Smith scored. Smith scored the game-winning goal in the third period, and Gabriel Landeskog’s goal late in the third couldn’t get the Avalanche even to a tie.
The Avalanche looked a bit sluggish, and it’s rare to see them only score once, even in a loss. They really didn’t give the Golden Knights much trouble. They played Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 24 saves. Vegas goalie Carter Hart made 20 saves. The final score was 2-1 to Vegas.
Post-Game 4 Reactions
The Golden Knights were thrilled with the win and ready for the Stanley Cup Final. “It was probably one of our better games from start to finish,” Smith said. “Other games in the series we’ve had little lulls where they’ve taken over, and tonight we stuck with it for pretty much the whole game. It was a really good game for us.”
“That’s how you move on in the playoffs. Those are very important pieces as you go through these series. I’m happy for Smith,” Vegas Head Coach John Tortorella said. “Your stars are going to be stars, but to keep advancing and to get to the situation where you’re now playing in the fourth round, playing for the Cup, those other pieces have to come together.”
The Avalanche weren’t happy with their performance and being swept, understandably, “It’s tough. You don’t really know, everybody processes things differently,” Makar said. “You work so hard to get to this point, it’s obviously frustrating. But it’s tough; you can’t dwell on it in terms of the way we gave our effort. Like we touched on, I think sometimes at some points we were disconnected.”
“Losing sucks. Losing four straight is worse. The closer you get to accomplishing (lofty goals), the more losing can swipe it all away in an instant. It’s hard to deal with. I got a lot of respect for our guys and the season they had,” said Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar.
Tortorella was hired late in the season and is now the third coach in NHL history to lead his team to the Stanley Cup Final after taking over in the final 10 games of the season, and the first to do so in 26 years.
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