Golden Knights roll to early lead,
hold off Avs 4-2 to open Western Conference Final
[May 21, 2026]
By PAT GRAHAM
DENVER (AP) — Dylan Coghlan scored his first playoff goal to get
Vegas rolling, Carter Hart made 36 saves and the Golden Knights
opened the Western Conference Final by holding off the Colorado
Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Colorado made it 3-2 with 2:21
remaining on a power-play goal from Gabriel Landeskog. Nic Dowd
sealed it for Vegas with an empty-net goal.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights,
who took advantage of several defensive miscommunications by the
Avalanche as they juggled their blue-line pairings with Cale Makar
sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Coghlan scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 17, 2021. The
28-year-old defenseman spent most of the season in the American
Hockey League. He's played the last five postseason games with the
recent injury to Jeremy Lauzon.
“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Vegas coach
John Tortorella said. “I think he's one of our best defensemen since
he's been with us and in the lineup. ... He's a bit unflappable."
It was a smothering performance most of the game by the Golden
Knights as they kept the pressure on goaltender Scott Wedgewood,
while controlling the Avalanche's speed through the neutral zone.
Vegas also had 23 blocked shots.
“We didn't play a flawless game by any means,” Tortorella said. “We
have work to do.”
Valeri Nichushkin had a goal at 5:53 of the third to make it 3-1.
Hart was stellar most of the evening, making one sprawling save
after another. He got some help from his post, too, when Logan
O’Connor's liner clanged off it in the first period.
“We know they've got a lot of skill on their team, and we respect
that,” Hart said. “But you can’t respect them too much, and I
thought we did a good job of defending and limiting their time and
space.”
Mitch Marner added an assist for Vegas to give him 19 points (seven
goals, 12 assists) in this postseason. It was Dorofeyev’s
NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason. The Golden Knights didn’t
have injured captain Mark Stone.
“We’re trying to play our game, not worrying too much about
countering off another team," Tortorella explained. "They feel very
comfortable in it.”
Game 2 is Friday night in Denver.
The Avalanche dropped their first game at home after winning five
straight through the first two rounds. Wedgewood made 24 saves.
[to top of second column] |
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front, shoots the
puck for a goal after driving past Colorado Avalanche center Brock
Nelson during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference
finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20,
2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“It was kind of a nothing game, and then they got a
few goals,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "Really good
team, obviously, but I thought we did a lot of damage to ourselves.
Just guys kind of everywhere. Execution, like I said, needs to be
better. Obviously, we’re capable of being a lot better than that.”
Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to
some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and
lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless
game in the second period.
“There's definitely a trickle-down effect to that," Avalanche coach
Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he's not playing. We
have find a way.”
Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two
seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He
returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because
of the bonds he'd formed.
“This is probably the best I've felt in my whole career,” said
Coghlan, who played in three regular-season games for Vegas this
season. “Whoever it is I'm playing with I'm very comfortable out
there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty
world-class players.”
The Golden Knights and Avalanche are meeting in a best-of-seven
series for the second time. In 2021, Colorado won the opening two
games of their second-round series before Vegas captured four
straight.
“ Definitely things we can get better at,” Landeskog said. “But we
knew it was (going to) be a long series.”
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