The Vegas Golden Knights had the roadmap. In Game 1, they followed just enough of it to steal home ice from the NHL’s best regular-season team.
Vegas beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night at Ball Arena, handing the Presidents’ Trophy winners their first home loss of the postseason and taking a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Final.
However, it was not clean at the end. It was not comfortable, either. Instead, it became exactly the kind of game Colorado can turn into chaos.
The Golden Knights built a 3-0 lead behind Carter Hart, an unlikely goal from Dylan Coghlan, another power-play finish from Pavel Dorofeyev and another playoff goal from Brett Howden. Then, the Avalanche pushed back, cut the lead to one and brought Ball Arena back to life before Nic Dowd finally ended the scare with an empty-net goal.
Hart Holds the Door Shut
Hart was the backbone of it all. He stopped 36 of 38 shots, including all 25 he faced through the first two periods, while Colorado owned long stretches of pressure and finished with a 38-28 shot advantage.
Still, Vegas did not need to stop Colorado’s machine completely. It only needed to jam it long enough to win.
The opening period offered a warning. Colorado came out fast and heavy, outhitting Vegas 17-9 in the first and forcing the Golden Knights into 10 giveaways. As a result, Hart had to be sharp early as the Avalanche threw shots from Nazem Kadri, Martin Necas, Parker Kelly, Logan O’Connor and Josh Manson at him.
Even so, Vegas got out of the first tied 0-0.
That alone mattered.
Coghlan Cracks the Code
The first breakthrough came from one of the least likely players on the ice.
Coghlan, called up from Henderson seven times this season, scored at 12:29 of the second period, sliding a shot through Scott Wedgewood to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. It was Coghlan’s first NHL goal since December 2021.
The goal gave Vegas the first punch, something it badly needed against a Colorado team that had spent much of the postseason playing from ahead.
Dorofeyev Keeps Cashing In
Dorofeyev made it hurt more less than three minutes later.
With Ross Colton in the box for roughing, Dorofeyev scored on the power play at 15:02 of the second, finishing off assists from Mitch Marner and Tomas Hertl. The goal was Dorofeyev’s 10th of the postseason and fourth on the power play, keeping him among the NHL’s playoff goal leaders.
It also gave Vegas a power-play goal in a franchise-record sixth straight playoff game.
Marner’s assist gave him 19 points in 13 playoff games, keeping him atop the NHL postseason scoring race. More importantly for Game 1, the goal sucked the life out of Ball Arena. A building that had been loud and confident went quiet as Vegas took a 2-0 lead into the third.
Howden Turns the Knife
Howden pushed it to 3-0 just 1:34 into the final period, seconds after Colorado’s carryover power play expired. He helped on the defensive end, then got to the crease at the other end and finished a rebound off Ben Hutton’s shot.
It was Howden’s ninth goal of the playoffs, keeping him near the top of the NHL playoff goal race and matching the nine goals he had scored over his first 37 career playoff games before this run.
At that point, Colorado was staring at its largest home deficit since Minnesota pushed the Avalanche into a three-goal hole in the second round.
The Avalanche Finally Roar Back
Then Colorado reminded Vegas why no lead against the Avalanche feels safe.
Valeri Nichushkin scored at 5:53 of the third to make it 3-1. Hart continued to hold the line for a while, but Shea Theodore’s high-sticking penalty on Logan O’Connor with 3:08 left gave Colorado the opening it needed. Wedgewood went to the bench, and the Avalanche attacked six-on-four.
Gabriel Landeskog scored on the power play at 17:39, cutting Vegas’ lead to 3-2 and waking the building back up.
Suddenly, the game was no longer controlled. It was survival.
Colorado had already erased a 3-0 deficit in its previous playoff game against Minnesota, and for a few tense minutes Wednesday, Ball Arena believed another one might be coming.
No NHL team had ever completed back-to-back 3-0 comebacks in the playoffs, but the Avalanche had 2:21 left to try.
Wedgewood went back in, then came out again. Colorado called timeout with 59.3 seconds left and set up an offensive-zone draw in the right corner of the Vegas end.
Vegas survived it.
Dowd Slams the Escape Hatch
Dowd sealed the game at 19:15, scoring into the empty net off a Jack Eichel shot. It was Dowd’s third goal of the playoffs and Eichel’s 15th assist.
The Golden Knights’ road game has flipped in the postseason. They were minus-2 in road goal differential during the regular season. After Game 1, they are plus-13 away from home in the playoffs.
That showed Wednesday.
Vegas got saves. It got depth goals. It got a power-play goal. It got just enough composure after Colorado made its push.
The Avalanche made the Golden Knights sweat.
Dowd made sure they did not fold.
Up next
The Western Conference Final continues Friday, May 22, when the Golden Knights face the Avalanche in Game 2 at Ball Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Vegas enters Game 2 with an 8-4 postseason record and a 1-0 series lead. Colorado, now 8-2 in the playoffs, will try to answer after suffering its first home loss of the postseason.
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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.
