Golden Knights Take Advantage of Injured Makar, Stun Avalanche With Game 2 Victory

DENVER, May 22nd, 2026— On Friday morning, Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella sat in front of a microphone for his pregame media availability and announced that he wouldn’t be satisfied with a split heading back home. 

“I think we need to be better if we’re going to have an opportunity,” he said. “Because we’re thinking about getting two out of here… We’ve had some things that we’ve talked about that we need to adjust, even though we got a win. We’re all-in; we’re trying to get another one out of here.”

Tortorella got his wish. The Golden Knights stunned the Colorado Avalanche with one of their trademarked third period comebacks and held on for a 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.

In the first period, the Golden Knights were the better team. They outshot the Avalanche 12-11 and generated 13 scoring chances against Colorado’s six. However, they entered the first intermission trailing by one. 

The Avalanche broke the ice at 16:59 in the first. Nazem Kadri worked the puck up to Brent Burns at the point, who ripped off a one-timer towards the net. Ross Colton drifted out from around the goal line, batted down Burns’ shot, and beat Carter Hart glove-side.

At the start of the second period, Martin Nečas took two separate minor penalties, setting the Golden Knights up for a four-minute power play. Jack Eichel took an interference penalty one minute in, and the Avalanche killed off the rest. 

It was all Avalanche for the remainder of the period. They held the Golden Knights to just three shots on goal and controlled 92.57% of the expected goal share. They generated 11 scoring chances while holding the Golden Knights to five, and generated five high-danger chances while not allowing any. 

The dam finally broke for the Golden Knights in the third period. They stunned the Avalanche with two goals in just over two minutes, and Colorado was never able to recover.

The Golden Knights found the equalizer at 9:15 in the third. Jack Eichel drove deeper into the zone, drifted to the right dot, and went post-and-in to beat Scott Wedgewood far-side.

The Golden Knights took the lead at 11:22 in the third. Pavel Dorofeyev won a wall battle in the neutral zone and fired the puck in. The Avalanche tried and failed to clear twice; on the third attempt, Pavel Dorofeyev batted the puck to Jack Eichel in the high slot. Eichel found Ivan Barbashev, who stepped into his shot and beat Scott Wedgewood with a wrister from distance.

From that point on, the Avalanche managed just five shots on goal– and two came after Ivan Barbashev’s empty netter to seal the game.

“[There were] so many shot blocks and desperation plays,” said Jack Eichel following the 3-1 win. “Credit to the group. It really feels like we’re playing for each other.”

The Golden Knights will return to Las Vegas with a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final and a chance to take a stranglehold on the series. Game 3 is scheduled for 5 p.m. PST on Sunday.

“It’s big, obviously, getting two on the road, but it’s far from over, and we know that,” said Noah Hanifin. “It’s a long series. They’re a great team over there, and we have to stay even-keeled. We have to come home, really take advantage of this home ice, and dig in. This Game 3 is going to be huge.”

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