For the third time in their history, the Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Golden Knights punched their ticket Wednesday with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. After sweeping the team that finished with the best regular-season record in the NHL, the Golden Knights now await the winner of the Eastern Conference finals featuring the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens. As for the Avs? They'll be left to wondering what went wrong.
Let's take a look at what happened, who was at the center of discussion and what Game 4 means for both teams going forward.
Colorado Avalanche
Grade: B-
Questions were already being asked about whether the Avs had any chance of winning Game 4. Those questions only intensified with Valeri Nichushkin sitting out the game because of injury and the reality that Nathan MacKinnon might not have been at full strength after blocking a shot with the side of his knee in Game 3. There was hope that came with Brock Nelson's mini-breakaway in the first period ... only to have that opportunity stopped cold by Vegas goalie Carter Hart.
Everything was pointing to how the Avalanche were already struggling. But those struggles were compounded by the notion that their top six was going through it. Gabriel Landeskog (twice) and Nazem Kadri were the only players in the Avs' top-six forward corps to score against the Golden Knights in this series entering a do-or-die Game 4.
The inability to score put even more demands on the Avalanche's defensive structure, particularly as Mackenzie Blackwood was getting his first start since Game 5 of the Avs' conference semifinal series against the Minnesota Wild. Blackwood did as much as one player could to try to save the season, with the Golden Knights already having as many high-danger scoring chances in the first period (six) than the Avs had going into the final frame.
Still, the Avs came into the third period within a goal ... only to end the game struggling to find consistent openings while having a 6-on-5 advantage with Blackwood pulled.
Vegas Golden Knights
Grade: A-
Anyone reading here after an Avalanche-Golden Knights game knows that a hallmark of this series has been that Vegas doesn't require much time with the puck to do damage. But that made how the Golden Knights opened Game 4 so emphatic. Particularly with Natural Stat Trick's data showing that they had a 52.94% shot share in 5-on-5 play in the first period.
Mark Stone scoring a second goal in his second game back from injury gave his team an early separation point. But Stone's opening salvo told only a sliver of the story. The Golden Knights came into the third period with a 50% shot-share -- a significant percentage for a team that had a 42.31% shot share in this series entering Game 4. That was buoyed by several players such as Ivan Barbashev, Dylan Coghlan, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, Kaedan Korczak and Pavel Dorofeyev having an individual shot-share that was more than 52.6% going into the third period.
Having that many players who controlled possession had a trickle-down effect, in that Hart faced only 14 shots going into the third period. Then, Hart faced only one shot on goal through the first 10 minutes of the third. Finishing with that sort of workload is a bit of a contrast, considering the Avalanche finished with more than 30 shots against Hart in each of the first three games, complete with a combined .943 save percentage.
Cole Smith doubles Golden Knights’ lead late in 3rd period
Lingering questions for each team
How do the Avalanche avoid a similar fate from happening next season?
No matter what front offices do to build what they think is the strongest possible roster, they all know that championship windows are finite. That reality becomes even more evident whenever a team is eliminated.
Everything the Avalanche accomplished in the regular season created the belief that they were the front-runners to win it all -- including leading the NHL in goals in the regular season. Then, the conference finals began, and they struggled to score. Getting knocked out in the first round last year allowed them to reestablish their priorities. But what will losing in the conference finals mean heading into 2026-27?
The Avs are going to have all but three players -- Brent Burns, Joel Kiviranta and Brett Kulak -- under contract or team control. PuckPedia projects they will have less than $3 million in cap space this summer. It's the sort of dynamic that probably will force the front office to seek trades if they want to make any significant changes.
Whatever those changes are comes with the idea that the 2027 offseason is going to have six players reach free agency, with the biggest being a two-time Norris Trophy winner in Cale Makar, whom the Avs will seek to sign to an extension sooner than later.
Are the Knights now the favorites to win the Stanley Cup?
Look at what they've done to get here:
In the first round, they came back from a 2-1 hole against the Utah Mammoth before winning consecutive overtime games to win the first round in six games
After that, they drew level with the Anaheim Ducks after four games, before winning their third overtime game to take a 3-2 series lead before a commanding win in Game 6
Then there's what they did to the team that had the best record in the NHL, with the way they limited scoring opportunities while tapping into every part of their lineup for contributions
Every team that reaches the conference finals round goes through a lot to get there. Could it be that the Golden Knights have seen -- and more importantly -- skillfully navigated every obstacle imaginable on their way to what could be the second Stanley Cup in franchise history?
