LAS VEGAS — In a surprising twist, the Golden Knights, led by Mark Stone and Cole Smith, triumphed over the high-flying Colorado Avalanche with a score of 2-1 on Tuesday night. This victory secures their place in the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in just nine seasons.
Now, the Golden Knights have a moment to relax as they await the outcome of the Eastern Conference Finals, where either Carolina or Montreal will emerge.
This outcome is quite the shocker for an Avalanche team that dominated the regular season, winning the Presidents Trophy and entering the playoffs with an impressive 8-1 record. It’s worth noting that Chicago was the last team to claim both the Presidents Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season back in 2013.
Stone opened the scoring by skillfully converting a lob pass from Brayden McNabb deep in the zone. He snagged the puck and swiftly directed it on target. Later, Smith added to the score with a tip-in of Dylan Coghlan’s shot with just under six minutes left, extending the lead to two goals.
Carter Hart was solid in goal, stopping 20 shots and nearly achieving his first playoff shutout in six years, falling just 2:03 short.
Gabriel Landeskog managed to net a goal, breaking Hart’s shutout and providing one of the few bright spots for the Avalanche. Interestingly, the Avalanche took their first shot on goal only after 14 minutes and 23 seconds of the second period, finishing an extended stretch with just one shot.
Mackenzie Blackwood, making his debut start in this series, delivered several remarkable saves, totaling 24 stops and keeping the Avalanche competitive. One standout save came late in the second period when he thwarted a power-play attempt by Pavel Dorofeev.
The Golden Knights’ journey to the Cup Final isn’t exactly a fairy tale—well, not in a conventional sense. They did reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2018, only to fall to Washington in five games. But, it’s safe to say their progress this season has been full of surprises.
Looking back, the Golden Knights were on the brink of missing the playoffs for the second time ever after their management made the bold choice to fire Bruce Cassidy, the coach who secured a championship for them in 2023, with just eight regular-season games remaining.
Bringing in John Tortorella proved effective as he guided the team to a 7-0-1 finish to the regular season, followed by victories over Utah and Anaheim, which clarified the reasoning behind the drastic coaching change. They then found themselves facing an Avalanche team that, up until now, hadn’t shown signs of faltering.
That is, of course, until they met Las Vegas.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar sought answers against the Golden Knights, even switching goalies in a last-ditch effort on Tuesday. Adding to their troubles, the Avalanche faced injuries to their top players during the series—reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar and Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon.
Despite injury challenges, the Golden Knights managed to win the first two games of the series even without Stone.
