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The Golden Knights stunned the the Avalanche at Ball Arena and grabbed the first game of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday night with a 4-2 victory.

They were powered by their goaltender, Carter Hart, who stopped 34 of 36 and held Colorado鈥檚 explosive offense mostly in check.

The Knights struck twice in less than three minutes midway through the second period, then grew the lead to 3-0 when Brett Howden finished off a two-on-one that started with a blocked shot at the very end of a Colorado power play.

Valeri Nichushkin scored a between-the-legs goal to get Colorado within two and then captain Gabe Landeskog scored 6-on-4 with just more than two minutes left to get the Avs within a goal, but the deficit proved too big to overcome. Barely.

Golden Knights 4, Avs 2: How it happened

Third period

8:55 p.m.:聽Avs fans are streaming for the exits, stunned. Vegas steals Game 1 and has control of this series. — Nate Peterson

8:54 p.m.:聽Nic Dowd shuts up the crowd at Ball Arena with the empty-net goal to make it 4-2 Vegas. — Nate Peterson

Nic Dowd wins a footrace for the puck and hits the empty net.

4-2 VGK

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

8:53 p.m.:聽MacKinnon almost snipes the equalizer. Tick, tick, tick … just 53 seconds to go in Game 1. — Nate Peterson

8:50 p.m.: Nate Dogg had to regulate again. Just sets up the Avs’ captain beautifully. Wedgie heads back into the net with just 2 minutes to go.聽— Nate Peterson

Gabe Landeskog scores a 6-on-4 goal with 2:20 left in the third period.

Nathan MacKinnon undresses Brayden McNabb in the corner, feeds the captain.

3-2 VGK

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

8:48 p.m.: Not over yet. Landy with the goal with 2:20 to go to pull Avs within 1. — Nate Peterson

Hello. Avs are within one after a Landeskog goal 6-on-4. — Parker Gabriel

8:47 p.m.: Wedgie heads to the bench to make it a 6-on-4 for Avs with 3:08 to go. — Nate Peterson

8:42 p.m.: Woulda, coulda, shoulda … but one thing Avs are going to see on tape when they watch this game film is that they didn’t put sticks on pucks for rebounds when Hart hasn’t gloved or smothered shots. Just not getting the bounces tonight.聽— Nate Peterson

8:41 p.m.:聽Tonight’s attendance at Ball Arena: A (disappointed) sellout crowd of 18,109. — Kyle Newman

Brett Howden of Vegas skates off gingerly after crashing into the boards and rolling his leg underneath him. — Nate Peterson

8:36 p.m.: It’s getting late early for the Avs at home. Less than 10 minutes to cut into this Vegas lead. — Nate Peterson

8:31 p.m.: Avs putting some pressure on Vegas now; if they can get another goal in the next few minutes, all of a sudden this game becomes really interesting. Vegas settling into a defensive mode reminiscent of the Wild in Game 5 last week; that didn’t work out well for Minnesota. But Colorado needs a couple guy to play hero. — Kyle Newman

8:27 p.m.: Colton flipped the puck into the middle where Nichushkin had powered right down the middle with really no defensive presence aroudn him.聽— Parker Gabriel

Val Nichushkin breathes life into with Colorado鈥檚 first goal. Vegas leads 3-1 w roughly 13 minutes left

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck)

8:25 p.m.: Valeri Nichushkin gets the Avs on the board with 14:06 left. Two Vegas players ran into each other, and then Nichushkin redirected a pass from Nazem Kardi with a between-the-legs tip-in. 3-1 VGK. — Corey Masiask

8:21 p.m.: Will Jared Bednar make another goalie change with his team down 3-0? Wedgewood has been solid, but Carter Hart has been lights-out. — Nate Peterson

8:17 p.m.:聽Upon Jumbotron review, it appeared Brett Howden batted down the puck with his glove off a rebound before shooting it into the wide-open net. No review, and Vegas in total control in front of a stunned Ball Arena crowd. — Kyle Newman

Good goal and the makings of a Game 1 stunner for the visitors. Of course, the Avs are no strangers to big comebacks. This will take a heck of an effort, though.聽— Parker Gabriel

didn't give up a shorthanded goal there, but … Ben Hutton came out of the box and collected a blocked shot, which turned into a 2-on-1.

Brett Howden knocked the puck down with his hand, but put it in the net with his stick.

3-0 VGK

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

8:16 p.m.: That kind of night at Ball Arena. Shot at the end of the Avs’ PP was blocked into the air and led to a 2-on-1 for Vegas and a 3-0 lead. It’ll be looked at, though.聽— Parker Gabriel

8:12 p.m.: Baba O’Riley cranked on the PA as the Avs take the ice for the third period. So if a comeback doesn’t materialize, it won’t be for lack of vibes.聽— Nate Peterson

Second period score: Golden Knights 2, Avalanche 0

8:03 p.m.: Vegas first goal: Val Nichushkin goes to the bench for a change, but Brock Nelson gets caught behind the play.

Result is a 4-on-3 on the other way, and the 4th guy (Dylan Coghlan) had all kinds of space before he scored. — Corey Masiask

Dylan Coghlan has been up and down from the AHL seven times this season. Talk about a journey to get to that first playoff goal. — Nate Peterson

7:57 p.m.:聽Vegas leads 2-0 after 40 minutes. Not sure what happened right before the final whistle there, but the VGK goalie came away from that scrum wincing/flexing something. Shot clock says 25-20 in favor of the Avs. — Corey Masiask

have 25 shots and nothing to show for it. Hart has played well in a game with little margin error.

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck)

7:55 p.m.: A handful of good looks for the Avs in the waning minutes of the second period, but Colorado just can’t crack Carter Hart. — Kyle Newman

Colorado’s empty on 25 shots and trails Las Vegas, 2-0, after two periods.

Avs will start the third with 1:25 of PP remaining. — Parker Gabriel

Val Nichushkin tried to bully his way through two Vegas players and got tripped up. Ben Hutton to the box. to the power play with 35.3 seconds left in the second period.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

7:54 p.m.:聽Both of Colorado’s power plays tonight will come across period breaks. They start this one with 35.2 left in the second. — Parker Gabriel

7:53 p.m.: MacKinnon had a chance to beat Vegas’ line change and whistled one just high glove side on Hart. — Parker Gabriel

7:52 p.m.: Avs gotta feel like the front of the net is sealed by brick and mortar. Carter Hart is seeing everything.聽— Nate Peterson

7:50 p.m.: Carter Hart is on one, man. — Parker Gabriel

So much for the chirping that the Golden Knights’ heater since Bruce Cassidy was fired was the result of playing inferior competition. The Golden Knights certainly look like a team ready to stun these Avs. — Nate Peterson

7:48 p.m.:聽Pavel Dorofeyev now has 47 goals in 95 games this season … 24 of them are on the power play.聽— Corey Masiask

Pavel Dorofeyev strikes on the power play. Great effort from Mitch Marner to fend off Logan O'Connor while going towards the right corner and then get it back to Dorofeyev.

10 goals this postseason for him.

2-0 VGK

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

7:46 p.m.: Dorofeyev doubles Vegas’ lead on a sweet feed from Mitch Marner. The building has gone quiet. Two goals in 2.5 minutes for the Knights. — Parker Gabriel

7:43 p.m.: Rasmus Andersson sells a Ross Colton roughing penalty pretty hard and Vegas goes on the power play for a second time. The official about 50 feet away didn’t call the penalty until Andersson was on the ice for about three seconds. #Avs back on the penalty kill.聽— Corey Masiask

If you had Dylan Coghlan on your bingo card for the first goal in this playoff series, you should probably go out and buy a lottery ticket. It’s his first career playoff point. — Nate Peterson

7:41 p.m.: Now Vegas going on the power play. Ross Colton gets two minutes for roughing.

Key stretch coming up for the Avs here. The Ball Arena crowd… does not agree with the call. — Parker Gabriel

After the Vegas goal, the air has gone out of the building a little here at Ball Arena. It will be up to Colorado to get it back, and that task just got tougher after Ross Colton is send to the penalty box. — Kyle Newman

7:40 p.m.:聽Wedgewood set up for the shot, but Coghlan is just faster on the fire, finding the net through the five-hole. Pressure has been cranked to 11 at Ball Arena for the home team, down 1-0 in Game 1. — Nate Peterson

Vegas opens the scoring on a counter attack after back-to-back shifts with plenty of zone time for the .

Dylan Coghlan gets free between the circles and beats Scott Wedgewood.

VGK is giving the Avs all the perimeter shots/offensive zone time it wants.

1-0 VGK

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

7:37 p.m.: Dylan Coghlan walked right down the middle, took a pass and ripped it past Wedgewood. The visitors strike first with 7:31 left in the second period. — Parker Gabriel

7:35 p.m.: Avs can’t complain about some of these scoring chances, but great goaltending is the ultimate equalizer in the playoffs. Hart remains a riddle through 30 minutes of action. — Nate Peterson

7:27 p.m.: A 15-goal Game 1, this is not. Intense, but the netminders are 32 of 32 so far combined. Plus one unfriendly left post for the Avs. — Parker Gabriel

7:26 p.m.:聽A full-throated “Wedgie” chant after he stopped Brett Howden down low. — Parker Gabriel

Every Avs fan loves a good Wedgie. — Nate Peterson

Valeri Nichushkin got mauled at the front of the net on that last possession, then got his face pushed into the ice. After the postwhistle scrum, that was the angriest I've seen him, yelling at one of the officials.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22)

7:19 p.m.:聽A bit of a scuffle along the Vegas goal line here early in the second period. Pot is percolating. — Parker Gabriel

Skirmish in front of the net after Avs nearly scored a couple times, but Hart stood tall. Valeri Nichushkin in the middle of the fray. — Kyle Newman

7:17 p.m.:聽Mac in like a lightning bolt but just missed screaming downhill from the left side. — Parker Gabriel

First period score: Avalanche 0, Golden Knights 0

6:55 p.m.: Mark Messier in the studio calls the opening period “a powderkeg waiting to happen.” Yeah, pretty much. — Nate Peterson

Avs have put one off the post, and that, in addition to a few flashy saves by Vegas goalie Carter Hart, has this game at 0-0 after one period. Avs need to keep the pressure on to begin the second, when they have 1:10 left on the power play. — Kyle Newman

6:54 p.m.: Knights’ McNabb ends the first period by popping Kadri and knocking him to the ice after the whistle. This feels way, way more like Kings Game 1 than it does Wild Game 1. Tight. Tight. Tight. — Sean Keeler

Logan O鈥機onnor hit post on one shot and had rugged shot that ended up with him in air hitting ankle on cross bar. No score. But #Avs finishing up period on power play. Hart made stop at the buzzer as Kadri tried to sneak it through. End of first with no score. — Troy Renck

6:53 p.m.: Nazem Kadri had a great look after a slick pass from Gabe Landeskog just before the buzzer, but the Vegas goalie made his best stop of the period. 0-0 after 20 minutes. Shot clock says 10-10. — Corey Masiask

Kadri stopped at the doorstep to end the first period. Man. What a chance. Rebound in front, Landy slid the puck to him and he had a great look. — Parker Gabriel

6:51 p.m.: Avs power play is up with 50.1 left in the first period after Barbashev got called for holding about 197 feet from his own net.聽— Parker Gabriel

The Avs Faithful will take it, but that holding call on Barbashev looked pretty thin. Perhaps this can spring a goal in the final minute of the first period for Colorado. — Kyle Newman

6:49 p.m.:聽O’Connor bulled in and got dumped across the left post by a Vegas defenseman. He and that piece of pipe are not friends. — Parker Gabriel

Logan O’Connor with another great look at the net, but he’s stuffed by Carter Hart to keep the game scoreless. Avs are knocking on the door of series-opening goal, but can’t cash in yet quite yet. — Kyle Newman

6:45 p.m.:聽Remember Game 1 of the Avalanche-Wild series when both teams combined for five first-period goals in a 9-6 Colorado win? Something says this game and this series will be different. Still looking for that series-opening goal after that ping off the post. 鈥� Nate Peterson

O’Connor was one-on-one, danced, fired the shot back across as he carried to his right and beat Hart clean. Just squared up the pipe. The worst (or best) sound in hockey. — Parker Gabriel

Logan O’Connor goes for a skate 1-on-1 after a long shift in the #Avs zone and rips one off the left post. — Corey Masiask

6:44 p.m.: Most of the best chances in recent minutes have come from Las Vegas. Until, as I type, LOC hits the left post on a run-out. Ping.聽— Parker Gabriel

6:43 p.m.:聽Avs had nine shot attempts in the first 4:03 of this game. Avs have two shot attempts in the past 9:58 of this game.聽— Corey Masiask

6:38 p.m.:聽

Is that Air Bud?

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

6:35 p.m.: Avs’ penalty kill 鈥� which was No. 1 in the NHL during the regular season 鈥� remains strong to open this series. Colorado has allowed six goals in this postseason, but two were 4-on-6 with the other goalie pulled, one was 3-on-4, and one was during the second half of a double minor. The traditional 4-on-5 PK has still been quite strong.聽— Corey Masiask

6:34 p.m.:聽Colorado’s D pairs on the PK without Makar (injury) and Burns (serving the penalty): Toews-Manson followed by Kulak-Malinski. Avs killed it off cooly. — Parker Gabriel

6:33 p.m.:聽Dorofeyev was set up perfectly from the right circle but he whiffed hard. Did he suit up this afternoon at Coors Field?聽— Parker Gabriel

6:32 p.m.: Avs go Toews-Manson, then Kulak-Malinski on the PK.聽— Corey Masiask

6:31 p.m.: Brent Burns to the box for hooking. #Avs will need to kill this penalty without two of their top three defensemen on the PK with Cale Makar out and Burns in the box.聽— Corey Masiask

6:31 p.m.: First special teams of the series will feature Colorado’s PK unit after Burns got 2 minutes for hooking. — Parker Gabriel

6:29 p.m.: Lehky seems completely cheesed off at pretty much everybody right now 鈥� defenders, reporters, training staff, you name it. Which is kind of the perfect mindset for this time of year, actually. — Sean Keeler

6:27 p.m.: After Golden Knights win a faceoff in the Avs’ D zone, Wedgewood makes a couple saves in a row, making it look easy. Still a largely defensive game so far, with just eight combined shots through nearly the first half of the opening period. — Kyle Newman

6:26 p.m.: Avs have had a ton of the puck, and Vegas has had the better chances on the counter attack, so far. — Corey Masiask

6:25 p.m.:聽Tomas Hertl just came down the left wing and went 1-on-1 with … Brent Burns. That’s only happened a few hundred times or so … at Sharks Ice. — Corey Masiask

6:22 p.m.: Wedgewood makes the first big stop of the night, stoning Keegan Kolesar, who got in alone on him after a turnover. Accompanied by the requisite “Wedgie” chants, naturally. — Parker Gabriel

6:21 p.m.: Avs with all the momentum so far, blasting away at Carter Hart in the net. But so far, no opening goal in these first four minutes. — Nate Peterson

6:20 p.m.: Avs have dominated the puck in the first four minutes and fired off a whole bunch of shot attempts, but have only gotten two through on net. — Corey Masiask

6:19 p.m.: Brent Burns lowered the boom. Hello. — Parker Gabriel

6:18 p.m.: Manson gave Ross Colton a great chance on a tip. Avs are tilting the ice to their offensive end early on. — Parker Gabriel

6:16 p.m.: Howdy from a star-studded Game 1. How “studded?” Before Mr. Masisak and Mr. Gabriel and I turned the corner toward the elevator, we passed Rockies president Walker Monfort, then a gaggle of Parker’s good friends on the Broncos. Big-time, kids. Big. Time. — Sean Keeler

6:15 p.m.: Place is rocking. Go time between the Avs and Knights. Sam Malinski next to Devon Toews on the top D pair without Cale Makar tonight. — Parker Gabriel

6:13 p.m.:

It is loud.

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

6:11 p.m.: I covered exactly one regular-season Avs game this year, and it was a few weeks back against Las Vegas. That night, the story was Jared Bednar taking a puck to the face in the third period and needing brief attention and repair at a local hospital. It was bizarre.

I don’t know what tonight has in store, but somehow, someway, it’s not all that surprising these two teams ended up squaring off in the postseason. — Parker Gabriel

6:07 p.m.: Broncos RT Mike McGlinchey, QB Jarrett Stidham and K Wil Lutz here for Game 1 of the Western Conference Final to pump up Ball Arena.

Not sure this crowd needs it, but hey, they did a good job anyway. — Parker Gabriel

6:06 p.m.:

Got lost again

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

5:55 p.m.: With Makar out, Malinksi is paired with Toews for Avs for Game 1 vs Golden Knights.聽— Troy Renck

5:52 p.m.: Avalanche lineup for Game 1:

• Gabe Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
• Artturi Lehkonen – Brock Nelson – Nicolas Roy
• Ross Colton – Nazem Kadri – Valeri Nichushkin
• Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
• Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
• Brett Kulak – Brent Burns
• Jack Ahcan – Josh Manson
• Scott Wedgewood

— Corey Masiask

Injuries