The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 Tuesday night in Las Vegas to complete a four-game sweep and advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history.
Vegas opened the scoring in Game 4 when Mark Stone finished off a diagonal, cross-ice pass from Brayden McNabb with 16:18 remaining in the first period, and Cole Smith provided the eventual game-winner with just over five minutes left. Colorado pulled its goalie for a 6-on-5 late in the third and Gabriel Landeskog sliced the deficit to 2-1 with a little more than two minutes remaining, but the Avalanche could not find the equalizer; Colorado was held to 21 shots and Vegas’ netminder stopped 25 of 26 that night as the Knights closed the series having allowed just seven total goals across four games.
The sweep followed a dramatic Game 3 in which Vegas rallied from a 3-0 first-period hole to win 5-3 — a comeback that came immediately after Stone returned from a five-game lower-body absence and scored 19 seconds into the second period. Before that turnaround, the Golden Knights had been 0-19 in playoff games when trailing by three or more goals.
Statistically the result reads oddly: Colorado finished the series with clear edges in high-danger chances, shots, shot attempts, shot share and scoring chances in 5-on-5 play, yet the Avalanche never scored more than three goals in a single game and were swept. The Golden Knights turned those underlying deficits into wins with opportunistic finishing and tight defense at the moments that mattered most — the kind of shrink-the-margin hockey that makes one-liners out of fuller-game dominance.
That opportunism has roots beyond a single shift. Vegas won the first two games in Denver without Stone in the lineup, and the team’s coaching change late in the regular season has been credited with a renewed approach: after the new coach took over in late March the club went 7-1 in eight regular-season games under his direction, and he said he is proud of how the group has responded and looks forward to the chance to play for the Cup.
Stone, who was careful in describing his own game, said he sees openings and tries to make the most of them; his timely scoring in Games 3 and 4 served as a foil to Colorado’s statistical advantages. The sweep gives Vegas a six-game winning streak overall and a measure of momentum heading into the Final while also guaranteeing at least a week off before the championship round is scheduled to begin.
What changes next is straightforward and immediate: Vegas will wait to learn whether it will face the Montreal Canadiens or the Carolina Hurricanes for the Stanley Cup. Carolina holds a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final and the two clubs are scheduled to play at least two more games, meaning the Golden Knights will have time to rest and prepare while their opponent sorts itself out.
The tangible advantage for Vegas is rest plus a confidence that, even when outplayed by the numbers, it can close series. The unresolved question is matchup-specific — which opponent will arrive in Las Vegas, and which version of this Knight team will meet them — but the outcome is clear: the Golden Knights are heading to the Stanley Cup Final, and the chess game over matchups starts now while they sit and wait.
