DENVER — The Vegas Golden Knights played arguably their most complete game of the playoffs, and held on to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 at Ball Arena in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday.
Game 2 is in Denver on Friday.
Defenseman Dylan Coghlan scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal, and winger Brett Howden notched his ninth goal of the playoffs.
Goaltender Carter Hart made 36 saves, and Pavel Dorofeyev also added his league-leading 10th postseason goal on the power play.
The Avalanche, who earned the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record during the regular season, lost at home for the first time in the playoffs.
The Knights took a 3-0 lead 1:34 into the third period after Howden batted home a rebound off a 2-on-1.
Colorado ended the shutout at 5:53 on a goal from winger Valeri Nichushkin. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog cut it to one with 2:02 remaining.
Center Nic Dowd scored the empty-netter with 44 seconds left to seal the game.
The Knights were once again without captain Mark Stone (lower body) and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (upper body), but they’ve won three of their last four without Stone in the lineup.
Colorado was without Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
