Golden Knights survive late Avalanche surge, win Game 1 of Western Conferene Final

Off-ice drama hardly bothers the Vegas Golden Knights, apparently.

The Pacific Division champions looked well on their way to victory in the first game of the Western Conference Final. Yet, they needed to hold off a late rally from the Colorado Avalanche in the third period, grabbing a 4-2 victory on Wednesday night.

The first 20 minutes were a bit touch-and-go, as both teams tried to figure out the best way to take control of the game, resulting in no goals and very few dangerous scoring chances. However, that all changed in the second period. A little past the halfway mark of the middle stanza, Dylan Coghlan found some space in the high slot, rifling home his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal, giving the Golden Knights the first goal of the series.

The visitors were given a great opportunity to extend their lead a few minutes later. On the power play, Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner made a masterful play to fight off Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon to get the puck to Pavel Dorofeyev, who buried his 10th goal in the playoffs, becoming the first player this postseason to reach double-digit tallies.

The Golden Knights didn’t take their foot off the gas. Less than two minutes into the third, Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton was off on a 2-on-1 with Brett Howden. Hutton was initially stopped by Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, but Howden was there to knock home the rebound for his ninth of the postseason to put the Golden Knights up 3-0.

The Avalanche certainly didn’t fold over for Vegas. Even down by a trio of goals, they kept fighting. The Presidents’ Trophy winners finally broke through just before the six-minute mark of the final frame, as Valeri Nichushkin cheekily tipped in a Ross Colton pass for his second of the playoffs to cut the deficit to two.

Then, with a few minutes remaining in regulation, MacKinnon made a slick play to get away from Golden Knights blueliner Brayden McNabb, feeding captain Gabriel Landeskog, making it a one-goal game.

The energy was back inside Ball Arena, as Colorado was buzzing, seeking the equalizer in the waning minutes of the game. However, a couple of big saves from Vegas goaltender Carter Hart and an empty-net goal from Nic Dowd secured the victory.

The win was needed for the Golden Knights, who not only stole home-ice advantage but also briefly silenced the critics that have bombarded the team since their relative ghosting of the media after their clinching win over the Anaheim Ducks in Round 2. For the Avalanche, they need to shake off the tough defeat, knowing they outplayed their opponent, even if they came on the wrong end of the scoreboard. It certainly didn’t help that they were without defender Cale Makar, who is considered day-to-day with an injury.

Hart was exceptional in net against one of the more aggressive offenses in the league, stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced. Wedgewood was credited with 24 saves in the losing effort.

The Golden Knights went 1-for-2 on the power play in Game 1, with the Avalanche going 1-for-3.

Game 2 of the West Final is set to take place in Denver on Friday night, with puck drop scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET.