For the first time in the 2025-26 season, this Colorado Avalanche dream run is in real danger of becoming a nightmare.
The Vegas Golden Knights scored a pair of goals 127 seconds apart in the third period Friday night to plunder Game 2 of the Western Conference Final and seize complete control of this series. Vegas goalie Carter Hart made 29 saves in the 3-1 victory, and the Golden Knights now lead the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche 2-0 in this best-of-seven series.
Game 3 will be Sunday night in Sin City at T-Mobile Arena. The Avs will now need to win four of the next five games, including at least two in Las Vegas, for this remarkable ride not to end short of the expected destination. Superstar defenseman Cale Makar did not play again after missing Game 1 with an upper-body injury.
The Avs were 41-0-0 in the regular season when leading after two periods and 4-0 in the postseason before Friday night.
Jack Eichel evened the score for Vegas at 9:15 of the third period. He took a shot from the right faceoff circle with Avs defenseman Devon Toews bearing down on him that beat Wedgewood on the far side just inside the left post. It was Eichel’s second goal of this postseason.
Ivan Barbashev gave Vegas its first lead of the night at 11:22. Toews tried to flip the puck out of danger in the defensive end, but Pavel Dorofeyev got a piece of it. The puck went to Eichel, who quickly shuffled it to Barbashev for a shot from the middle of the ice above the circles that rattled off the left post and in.
Ross Colton opened the scoring at 16:59 of the first period. Brent Burns sent one of his patented stinger shots towards the Vegas net from the right point. It didn’t get there, but Colton was in the right place to corral the loose puck after the initial shot was blocked. Colton snapped one into the top-right corner of the net for his second goal of this postseason.
Given how much success the Avs had in the regular season and how well the first two rounds of this tournament went, it wasn’t hyperbole to say Colton’s goal at the time was one of the most important of the 2025-26 season for the Avalanche to date.
Vegas was in control of this game before Colton scored. The Golden Knights looked much smoother breaking the puck out of its own end, and the Avs had multiple defensive breakdowns in theirs. The quantity of chances were pretty similar in the opening 16 minutes, but the quality clearly favored the visitors.
Wedgewood was immense in the first 20 minutes, and then his teammates were much better in the second. It was a choppier period, in part because five penalties were called. Colorado’s penalty kill was immense, erasing three Vegas opportunities and drawing an infraction as well.
Avs coach Jared Bednar inserted Nick Blankenburg into the lineup for the first time since Game 3 against Minnesota in the second round. Jack Ahcan had played the previous three contests. Neither of them have reached eight minutes in ice time in the past five contests, but Blankenburg earned 7:17 in the first two periods alone.
Already missing Makar, the Avs appeared to dodge a disaster late in the second period. Josh Manson dished out a huge hit along the boards in his own end, but also propelled himself into the wall awkwardly. He went down the tunnel and missed the end of the period, but was able to come back for the final period.
Vegas took Game 1 of this series two nights prior, leaning on 36 saves from goalie Carter Hart, but also a sound defensive effort in front of him while building a three-goal lead. Colorado made a late push, but fell short in a 4-2 defeat.
FOOTNOTES: Both Makar and Vegas captain Mark Stone skated this morning at Ball Arena, but both impact players remained out of the lineup. Stone missed the final three games in the second round against Anaheim as well.
