DENVER -- Very few pundits are giving the Vegas Golden Knights much of a chance against the Colorado Avalanche , and no one can blame them.
The Avalanche have been hands down the most dominant team in the NHL this season, and the playoffs have only reflected that point. Yet to lose a game at home heading into the Western Conference Final, the Golden Knights had the daunting task to not only steal home ice advantage, but nab four wins against a juggernaut. It was going to take nothing short of their greatest effort all season, especially with the Stanley Cup within their grasp once again.
The outside noise made Game One all the sweeter for the Golden Knights, who silenced the fans at Ball Arena with an impressive 4-2 victory over the Avalanche to snag the first win of the series.
The first period was back and forth with both teams trading good stretches. Carter Hart and Scott Wedgewood had 10 saves each in the first 20 minutes, including Hart having to make an excellent save on Nazem Kadri when the Avalanche were on a power play at the end of the period.
With the second period opening up more chances, it was the unlikeliest of heroes who got the Western Conference Final going. Dylan Coghlan , playing in his fifth career Stanley Cup Playoff game, would get a patch of open ice to shoot from before firing it through the five hole of Wedgewood to give the Golden Knights the first lead.
It was not only the first playoff goal of Coghlan's career, but his first at the NHL level since 2021 during his first stint with the Golden Knights.
"I didn't really have much to lose and I think this is the best I've ever played in my career," said Coghlan during the postgame press conference.
The usual suspects would not be left out, either. On a Golden Knights power play a few minutes later, Mitch Marner would make another spectacular play to enter the offensive zone and put the pressure on an Avalanche defensive corps that was without Cale Makar . Marner would then find a way to zip a pass through two defenders to Pavel Dorofeyev , who fired the puck past Wedgewood to become the first player to hit 10 goals this postseason.
The third period would continue with early dominance from the road team. After a successful penalty kill to start, Ben Hutton was able to get a breakaway chance on Wedgewood to start. While the save was made, a trailing Brett Howden was able to glove down the rebound and get the puck on his stick before it crossed the goal line, giving the visitors a three-goal advantage.
They would need the extra cushion, as a miscommunication that lead to Hutton and Coghlan colliding with one another allowed Valeri Nichushkin to open the scoring for Colorado .
That shot of momentum would prove fortuitous for the Avalanche, who struck with some power play magic of their own with less than two and a half minutes remaining. Nathan MacKinnon was able to get the better of Brayden McNabb with an excellent move, followed by a pass to Gabriel Landeskog for the finish. The goal had the fans in Denver believing they were about to witness their second consecutive three-goal comeback victory.
It was not meant to be, however, as Nic Dowd was able to get the puck after a long range shot from Jack Eichel and bury it in the empty net to seal the victory and steal home ice advantage from Colorado.
Despite the push from the Avalanche, the Golden Knights now have the empirical evidence to match their confidence that they can pull off the upset, and they will need it for Game Two on Friday.
"It's a very hard team we're playing against," Coghlan said about the Avalanche. "We know that, and we know they're gonna come with even more next game, and we gotta be ready for that."
