Golden Knights sweep Avalanche to
advance to third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons
[May 27, 2026]
By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brayden McNabb hit Mark Stone in stride with a lob
pass in the first period for a highlight reel of a play, but it was
the gritty work of the Golden Knights' defense that ultimately put
Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Golden Knights limited the Avalanche's high-powered offense all
series and then suffocated it Tuesday night.
That defense, aided by goals from Stone and Cole Smith, led to a 2-1
victory and an unthinkable sweep of Colorado for the Knights' third
final in nine seasons.
“It's by far our best game," said Vegas coach John Tortorella, whose
team was 30-1 at Caesars Sportsbook at the beginning of the series
to sweep. “(Checking is) something we've been concentrating on, and
I think we've gotten better and better through the rounds. But
tonight's game was our best checking effort, and that's a hell of a
hockey team we played over there.”
The Golden Knights will get a break while they watch to see whether
Carolina or Montreal emerges from the Eastern Conference Final.
This is a crushing end for an Avalanche team that won the
Presidents' Trophy and had blown through the playoffs with an 8-1
record. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim the Presidents’
Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.
“We ran into a buzz saw in Vegas,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
said. “I think they deserved the credit. It’s not a knock on how
hard they played, but they’re a well-oiled machine right now,
peaking at the right time. I look at their series and man-to-man
they’re playing at the top of their game. We’ll have to regroup and
reassess and reflect on our season and the series and go from
there.”
With several Las Vegas Raiders players looking on, including
quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza, the Golden Knights
got on the scoreboard when McNabb delivered a perfect pass to Stone.
Not known for elite skating ability, Stone nevertheless got behind
the Avalanche, caught the puck and scored.
“I'm not winning a ton of races,” Stone said. “I think I can create
angles to get into those positions. That's probably why I've had
quite a few breakaways in my career.”
That was the only goal until Smith tipped in Dylan Coghlan's shot
from the point with 5:45 left for a critical two-goal margin.
Carter Hart stopped 20 shots, coming within 2:03 of his first
playoff shutout in six years.
Gabriel Landeskog ended that shutout, one of the few highlights of
the night for the Avalanche, who went the final 14:23 of the second
period without a shot on goal and more than 25 minutes with just one
shot.
Hart said he thought the Golden Knights defense “100%” frustrated
the Avalanche.
“I think once we scored that first goal, in the second and third
period we just kind of locked it down and kept pressure on them,”
Hart said. “We did a great job. We had some huge blocks tonight.”
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Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, middle, celebrate after
winning Game 4 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley
Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday, May 26,
2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
It wasn't just this night. Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, who led
the NHL with 53 goals in the regular season, failed to hit the back
of the net in any of the four games. Martin Necas, who had 100
points, totaled just two in this series.
The Avalanche averaged a league-high 3.63 goals during the regular
season and in the first two rounds upped that to 4.11. Against the
Golden Knights? It was 1.75.
“I think you look back at the four games, there are definitely times
where we found our game,” Landeskog said. “I think the problem was
we found ways to lose hockey games. I think over the course of the
regular season, in the first two rounds, it was the opposite. Even
if we didn’t have our A-game, we were finding different ways to win
hockey games, and against this good of a hockey team in the Golden
Knights, they’ll make you pay for your mistakes.”
Mackenzie Blackwood, making his first start in the series, gave the
Avalanche a chance to win with several dazzling saves en route to 24
saves overall. His best stop came late in the second period when he
lunged to glove a power-play shot from Pavel Dorofeyev.
The journey to the final isn't quite the Cinderella story of the
Golden Knights’ first team that made the Stanley Cup Final in 2018
before losing in five games to Washington, but Vegas’ voyage to this
point was far from expected.
The Golden Knights faced the possibility of not making the playoffs
for just the second time in franchise history when management fired
coach Bruce Cassidy, who led the club to the 2023 title, with eight
games left in the regular season.
In came Tortorella, who validated the controversial decision by
leading Vegas to a 7-0-1 record to close the regular season and then
series victories over Utah and Anaheim. Then the Golden Knights
faced an Avalanche team on a roll and without any sign of slowing
down.
At least until facing Vegas.
Bednar searched for answers against the Golden Knights, even
changing goalies on Tuesday. The Avalanche also dealt with injuries
to their top two players this series — reigning Norris Trophy winner
Cale Makar and MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy finalist.
The Golden Knights had their own injury issues, winning the first
two games of the series without Stone.
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