The Vegas Golden Knights will get nearly a week to regroup after closing out their second-round series against the Ducks with a 5-1 win in Thursday night’s Game 6 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
It’s a rest that will come at a key time.
The Knights are dealing with a few injuries and will have a bit of time to potentially get healthy before they open the Western Conference final against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver.
Game 1 will be on Wednesday night.
It won’t be an easy task against an Avalanche team that racked up an NHL-high 121 points in the regular season and has gone 8-1 to cruise through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Colorado has not lost a home game in the postseason.
The Knights would certainly be in a better position to upset them and advance to the Stanley Cup Final should captain Mark Stone be able to get back in action in time for the series.
No update has been provided since Stone left Game 3 after the first period and did not return. He has missed the past three games with what appeared to be a lower-body injury.
While the Knights went 2-1 in games he was unable to play, his absence will likely be much more pronounced against what could be the best team in the league.
Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon also missed the entire second-round series and could return at some point.
The Knights will have defenseman Brayden McNabb back after he served a one-game suspension in Game 6 for a check that got him kicked out in the first period of Game 5.
Regardless of who is in the lineup, the Knights will be put to the test.
The Avalanche are loaded, starting with star center Nathan MacKinnon.
He finished third in the league in the regular season with 127 points and led the entire NHL in goals with 53.
Center Martin Necas also had 100 points this season, making them the only teammates in the league to both reach that mark.
MacKinnon has added 13 points in just nine playoff games, while Necas has added a goal and 10 assists.
There is also plenty of talent around them up and down the lineup, notably star defenseman Cale Makar, for a Colorado team that has only advanced past the second round of the playoffs one other time in the past nine seasons.
That was the year they won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
“They’ve been the best team in the league all year,” Knights star Jack Eichel said on the TNT broadcast after the game. “We know it’s going to be our toughest challenge yet.”
One of the biggest questions with the Avalanche right now is their goaltending, but even that is a bit nitpicky.
Mackenzie Blackwood started in place of Scott Wedgewood in the clinching game of the second round, but Blackwood was lifted after Colorado fell behind 3-0. Wedgewood did not allow a goal in the relief appearance as the Avalanche rallied to win 4-3 in overtime.
Wedgewood is expected to start moving forward. He is 7-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average in the postseason after finishing the regular season 31-6-6 with a 2.02 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
That save percentage and GAA ranked first among all qualified goaltenders during the regular season.
The Avalanche have opened as a -240 favorite in the series over the Knights at Westgate SuperBook.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
