Mark Stone and Cole Smith scored as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Tuesday night, completing a surprising sweep to advance to their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons. The Golden Knights will now await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between Carolina and Montreal, with Carolina leading that series 2-1.
“Now the real stuff starts,” said Vegas coach John Tortorella. “I consider the first three rounds playoffs. Now we’re playing for the Stanley Cup.” The Avalanche, who won the Presidents’ Trophy and entered the series with an 8-1 playoff record, were left stunned. Chicago in 2013 were the last team to win both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.
Stone opened the scoring on a lob pass from Brayden McNabb, catching the puck and finding a direct path to the net. Smith later tipped in Dylan Coghlan’s shot from the point with 5:45 left, providing a critical two-goal cushion. Carter Hart made 20 saves, coming within 2:03 of his first playoff shutout in six years before Gabriel Landeskog ended it. Colorado went the final 14:23 of the second period without a shot on goal and more than 22 minutes with just one shot.
“It’s empty,” Landeskog said. “It always is, whether you lose in seven, six, five or four [games], it’s an empty feeling. It sucks. There’s no other way to put it.” Mackenzie Blackwood, making his first start of the series, made several dazzling saves en route to 24 stops, including a lunging glove save on a power-play shot from Pavel Dorofeyev late in the second period.
The Golden Knights’ journey to the final was unexpected. They faced the possibility of missing the playoffs when management fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who led the team to the 2023 title, with eight games left in the regular season. Tortorella took over and guided Vegas to a 7-0-1 record to close the regular season, followed by playoff victories over Utah and Anaheim before sweeping Colorado. The Avalanche dealt with injuries to top players Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, while the Golden Knights won the first two games without Stone.
