Colorado is not just the next opponent on the Golden Knights’ playoff path. The Avalanche are the NHL’s standard this season, and Vegas knows it.
Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy with 121 points, eight more than Carolina, then carried that form into the playoffs. The Avalanche swept Los Angeles, beat Minnesota in five games and enter the Western Conference Final at 8-1. Only Carolina, at 8-0, has been cleaner.
John Tortorella did not try to dress it up.
“They have been the top team of the National Hockey League all year long,” Tortorella said. “We know that.”
But that does not make Colorado automatic. No Presidents’ Trophy winner has also won the Stanley Cup since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. Tortorella, who has been part of playoff upsets before, kept the frame simple.
“Regular season’s regular season,” Tortorella said. “The playoffs, a lot of things can happen.”
Colorado is the machine
The first job for Vegas is respecting what Colorado is. The Avalanche play fast, activate their defensemen and can turn one missed chance into a rush the other way. Shea Theodore called them “a good, fast team” and “pretty much the top team in the league all year.”
The regular season and playoffs both support that. Colorado finished 7-3 over its final 10 regular-season games and has won eight of nine in the postseason. That makes the Avalanche 15-4 over their last 19 games entering Game 1.
This is not a team catching a short hot streak. This is a team that has been rolling for more than a month.
Mitch Marner said the Golden Knights cannot get caught staring at Colorado’s résumé.
“We just got to make sure we do our thing, focus on ourselves,” Marner said. “Be ready to play some hard hockey.”
That may sound simple, but the games Colorado has played so far show what that has to mean.
The first punch matters, but it is not enough
Minnesota gave Vegas the clearest look at how to rattle Colorado. In the Avalanche’s only playoff loss, the Wild scored twice late in the first period, won the special-teams battle and got 35 saves from Jesper Wallstedt in a 5-1 Game 3 win.
Minnesota did not shut Colorado down. The Avalanche still had 36 shots. What the Wild did was make Colorado chase.
That is one part of the roadmap. Vegas cannot ease into this series. Colorado is too good when it gets to play downhill.
But Game 5 against Minnesota offered the warning label. The Wild scored 34 seconds in, built a 3-0 first-period lead and chased Mackenzie Blackwood after the opening period. Then Minnesota stopped creating enough offense. The Wild had 13 shots in the first period, then only seven the rest of the game and none in overtime.
Colorado came back and won 4-3.
So the lesson is not just score first. It is score first, keep forechecking and keep forcing Colorado to defend. Against the Avalanche, a lead is not a finish line. It is only the first test.
Make Colorado’s defensemen defend
This series may turn on how well Vegas handles Colorado’s defensemen. In the Golden Knights’ April 11 win at Ball Arena, both Avalanche goals came from defensemen. Devon Toews scored on the power play, and Nick Blankenburg tied the game in the second period.
That connects directly to what the Golden Knights have already said this week. Jack Eichel said Vegas has to “get above them” and not let Colorado’s defensemen beat them up the ice after a forecheck. Brayden McNabb said Vegas has to finish checks and stay above the rush.
That is where the series can tilt. If Colorado’s defensemen are joining clean rushes, Vegas is in trouble. If the Golden Knights force them to turn, retrieve pucks and defend below the dots, the game changes.
Hart has to keep the margin small
The April 11 game gives Vegas its best local blueprint. The Golden Knights beat Colorado 3-2 in overtime and clinched a playoff berth, but they did not erase the Avalanche. Colorado outshot Vegas 32-29 and had a chance to win in overtime.
Carter Hart made 30 saves. Eichel called him Vegas’ best player that night, saying the Golden Knights probably were not in overtime without him.
That is likely the standard again. Hart does not have to steal every game, but he has to win stretches. Colorado is going to create shots. Vegas has to keep those pushes from becoming avalanches.
The April 11 winner was the perfect example. Toews had a look on a Colorado 2-on-1, but the puck hit the knob of Hart’s stick and went wide. Seconds later, Eichel went the other way and scored.
One save. One rush. One finish.
That may be the series.
Vegas has a path, not a shortcut
There is no easy way through Colorado. The Avalanche have the points, the playoff record, the speed and the depth. They have already won tight games, ugly games and a game where they trailed by three.
The Golden Knights’ path is narrower. Hart has to hold the game together long enough for Eichel, Dorofeyev or another finisher to make one play count. If Stone is available, his net-front scoring and power-play presence would give Vegas another proven option.
Colorado is the standard.
Vegas’ job is to make the standard uncomfortable.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
