Dan Kingerski
Based on the regular season results, the Western Conference Final should have heavily favored the Colorado Avalanche. Instead, the new misfits of the Vegas Golden Knights badly outplayed the beaten and broken Colorado Presidents’ Trophy winning team.
Hobbled Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon, couldn’t find enough of his game. Colorado all-world defenseman Cale Makar again gritted his teeth to play through injury, but was a shell of himself. And the Golden Knights were able to attack Colorado throughout the third period before holding on for the WCF clinching win, 2-1 at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday.
It was also the second time in Vegas coach John Tortorella’s career that he coached a team to a very rare sweep of a Presidents’ Trophy winner. Tortorella’s 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets also swept away the Tampa Bay Lightning. No other coach in NHL history can claim that feat.
GM Kelly McCrimmon made the shocking move to fire coach Bruce Cassidy and hire Tortorella with just eight games remaining in the season. The move was exactly what
In the final minutes, Colorado had one last gasp. Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog tipped Martin Necas’s shot for a goal at 17:57, cutting the VGK lead to 2-1.
However, the Golden Knights shutdown Colorado over the final couple of minutes, letting few shots get through and no scoring chances. Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart continued his torrid post-season run by stopping 20 of 21. And no, the Golden Knights did not touch the Clarence Campbell Trophy presented by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly while the home fans chanted, “We want the Cup!”
It was quite fitting that in the biggest game in Vegas since the 2023 Stanley Cup run, aging captain Mark Stone put the Golden Knights on the right foot with a goal in the first five minutes. The grizzled Stone beat Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood on a breakaway at 4:42 of the first period.
“I don’t think people realize the 200-foot effort we play with. Whether it’s Mitch (Marner) or Jack (Eichel), our defense blocking shots,” Stone told Sportsnet after the game. “Anything to keep the puck out of the net. That’s what our mentality has been.”
Conversely, Hart made a spiffy glove save on Brock Nelson’s breakaway a few minutes later.
Later in the third period, the Golden Knights capped more offensive pressure with a roof-raising goal by Cole Smith (3) at 14:15. The experienced Golden Knights didn’t celebrate just yet, but the Stanley Cup Final quickly became their very tangible reality.
Even after Landeskog scored, the VGK buttoned up and Colorado was unable to build much pressure in the final 90 seconds. And just like that, the heavily favored Colorado Avalanche’s season was over.
And just like that, Mitch Marner will play for a Stanley Cup. The talented forward, who has shuffled between right wing and center this season, slayed the unfair reputation born in Toronto as someone who didn’t perform in the postseason.
Marner is the leading candidate for the Conn Smyth Trophy. He leads all playoff scorers with 21 points (7-14-21), and has 84 (20-64-84) in 86 career playoff games. Say again that Marner doesn’t perform in the playoffs?
“This group reminds me of a winner. They just know how to win,” said Tortorella.
There are four original Misfits on the roster who were part of the franchise’s inaugural season (2017-18) that ended in a Stanley Cup Final loss to the Washington Capitals: William Karlsson, Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore, and Reilly Smith.
The Golden Knights also fulfilled owner Bill Foley’s expansion projection, “Cup in Six” by winning the 2023 Stanley Cup, in the franchise’s sixth season.
