Decisive Factors in the Avalanche–Golden Knights Western Conference Final Showdown

With the Colorado Avalanche facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals, it’s going to be the first time these two teams have faced off against each other since the 2021 NHL Playoffs. Both teams can be seen as having taken different routes to reach the point where they now face off.

The Avalanche continued their regular-season dominance. The Los Angeles Kings, to no one’s surprise, was a quick series, tight at times; though the Avalanche’s talent overpowered the Kings. Though the Wild was a surprise to many others, as it was to me, for how quickly the series was.

Many, including myself, thought the Avalanche would come out of the series as the winners, but five games were pretty quick for what the Wild just went through with the Stars. Though the Avalanche capitalized on the Wild’s weak spots and used some unfortunate injuries to their depth to once again move past to the next round in five games.

Then there’s the Knights, a team that struggled at times against two young Western Conference teams, the Utah Mammoth and the Anaheim Ducks, but regrouped as the series went on and capitalized on their weaknesses to close out the series.

There will be some key factors in this series if both teams want to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Both teams’ goaltending has had some ups and downs, but the Avalanche does have a tandem. The Knights have been reliant on Carter Hart for all 12 games they have played. Win or lose, no matter what, he is their guy, and as the playoffs have continued, he has shown he is getting better.

He enters the series with an 8-4 record with a .915% save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average, which are no numbers to scoff at for the Avalanche. Similar to the Kings, the Knights want to play a very slow, controlled-paced game, limiting the number of shots on goal attempts by the enemy team.

That is one big reason why, during their series against the Ducks and Mammoth, they couldn’t keep up with the speed and youth of those teams; they were forced into a shootout, and giving credit where it’s due, they won some of those games, but it can be a recipe for success for the Avalanche.

The Avalanche needs to have all four lines rolling this series, constantly peppering Hart with shots. It’s been a key reason the Avalanche are where they are today, thanks to their depth scoring, and it needs to be even more important in this one.

The Avalanche Just Sent A Terrifying Message To The Rest Of The NHL

The Avalanche Just Sent A Terrifying Message To The Rest Of The NHL Nathan MacKinnon delivered again, but it was Colorado’s relentless depth—shift after shift, wave after wave—that truly overwhelmed Minnesota and turned a tight playoff series into a statement of how dangerous this Avalanche team has become.

It goes the same for the Avalanche, goaltending-wise. They most likely run it back with Scott Wedgewood, given how well he played after his Game 4 loss to the Wild, but, again, to their advantage, if he can’t find his rhythm, they have Mackenzie Blackwood to fall back on.

It will be interesting to see how this goaltending matchup plays out. I do believe now that the final four is set, that no matter who the Avalanche play, they have already faced the best goaltender in the playoffs, Jesper Wallstedt. It will be key to see if the Avalanche can force John Tortorella’s hand and pull Hart a game, forcing him to decide whether to start Adin Hill.

The Wild took a major blow when they werent able to have Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Bordin in their lineup, hurting not only their defensive depth, which got exposed by the production from Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, but also their center depth. In Vegas’s case, Mark Stone left Game 3 against the Ducks and didn’t play the rest of the series, and with his injury history, it could be a major flag for the Knights.

Now the Knights did end up winning said series, but losing Stone, who had three goals and four assists for seven points leading up to the injury, hurts the team going forward. He is a major piece of their offense, a key playmaking winger in their top-six, and just a great captain on and off the ice. Now there are no reports as of writing on whether he’s going to be ready or miss Game 1 or more of the series, but like Eriksson Ek, you can’t miss the opportunity to win the games where he is not in the lineup.

We have already seen players like Jack Eichel and especially Mitch Marner help carry the offensive load in his absence, but the defensive burden is also missing with Stone out of the lineup.

Why Vegas Might Be Colorado’s Most Dangerous Test Yet The Colorado Avalanche may have the NHL’s most dangerous roster, but the battle-tested Vegas Golden Knights possess the structure, physicality, and experience to turn the Western Conference Final into a brutal war of attrition.

Again, Marner has been outstanding for the Knights, putting up Conn Smyth-type numbers, but he can’t do it alone. Stone’s absence from the lineup puts a lot of pressure on the top six to perform, and if the Avalanche can win the depth matchup, as they have so far in these playoffs, they need to capitalize on games without Stone.

Despite the amount of scoring the Avalanche have gotten from pretty much everyone up and down the lineup, there is still more room for production, and that comes from the top-six. While Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas have led the way with support from Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen, there could be more to expect from Valeri Nichushkin and especially Brock Nelson.

Chris MacFarland Makes His Case For GM Of The Year Chris MacFarland’s series of calculated roster moves—headlined by the Mikko Rantanen trade, a goaltending overhaul, and deadline depth additions—have positioned the Avalanche as a legitimate Stanley Cup favorite and strengthened his case for GM of the Year.

Nichushkin only has one goal and two assists for three points, both of which came from the first two games of the Wild series. Nelson, on the other hand, has two goals and one assist for three points, one goal and one assist coming from the series against the Wild, and the other goal against the Kings.

The issue, once again, comes down to their cap hit relative to their production. We have seen both of these players come up big for the Avalanche, either during the regular season or, in Nichushkin’s case, be a major factor in the playoffs. There are never any points to be made about back/fore-checking or making bad defensive plays.

It’s just frustrating that they’re not producing like we know they can, but once they start hitting the scoresheet consistently, it just adds another level to this Avalanche team.