Avalanche vs. Golden Knights Game 4: Key takeaways as Vegas completes sweep, advances to Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights fans had yet another reason to celebrate on Tuesday night, as their team earned its ninth banner in as many seasons of existence.

Vegas smothered the Colorado Avalanche in a 2-1 victory in Game 4 to sweep the Presidents’ Trophy winners out of the Western Conference final at T-Mobile Arena. It sealed the Golden Knights’ third Western Conference title since they entered the league in 2017, to go with their five division titles and Stanley Cup championship in 2023.

The team with the most playoff wins in the NHL over that span now awaits the winner of the Eastern Conference final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens, which the Hurricanes lead 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Wednesday.

Captain Mark Stone opened the scoring for Vegas with a breakaway attempt less than five minutes into the game, set up by a long-range pass by defenseman Brayden McNabb.

Mackenzie Blackwood took over for Scott Wedgewood in the Colorado goal and gave the Avalanche a sensational showing. The 29-year-old made several highlight-reel saves, none better than two robberies of Vegas’ Pavel Dorofeyev on a power play in the second period. Blackwood exploded to his right to rob Dorofeyev’s backdoor one-timer with his blocker. Moments later he slid to his left in the full splits to glove Dorofeyev’s shot.

Vegas fourth-liner Cole Smith added an insurance goal late, deflecting Dylan Coghlan’s shot from the point underneath Blackwood to make it 2-0 with 5:45 left in the game.

It was necessary, because Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog ended Carter Hart’s shutout bid with a redirect goal in the final minutes. It was one of Hart’s easier nights of the playoffs to this point, but he was solid in net to stop 20 of 21 shots.

Colorado is left to pick up the pieces and answer a lot of hard questions after suffering the NHL’s most shocking sweep since the 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets — coached by current Vegas coach John Tortorella — knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

“They’re moving on and we’re not,” Landeskog, Colorado’s captain, said. “Whether that’s in four games or seven games, it hurt just as much.”

MacKinnon gives it a go

Nathan MacKinnon was one of just four Avalanche players who didn’t take the morning skate on Tuesday, but coach Jared Bednar said MacKinnon was feeling much better than at the end of Game 3, when a Shea Theodore slap shot off the right knee left him hobbled and ineffective. And sure enough, when he came out for warmups, MacKinnon was moving pretty well, even if he was clearly favoring his right leg, taking little baby steps to get going rather than his signature explosive first step.

Once the game began, MacKinnon looked better — but certainly not 100 percent. His burst was there at times, but not nearly at the sustained level we’re used to seeing. Still, Bednar didn’t shelter him, keeping him in his usual role on the top line between Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen. That proved to be Colorado’s most dangerous line, but whether it was a lack of his usual jump or just the general disjointedness that has plagued Colorado all series, MacKinnon still didn’t generate much offense. He had a chance to hit Cale Makar in stride for a breakaway early in the first period, but led Makar too much, failing to connect. Moments later, Stone opened the scoring.

MacKinnon finished with 22:10 of ice time and recorded two shots on goal. He did not speak after the game, with a team spokesperson saying he was with team doctors. Bednar declined to get into any injury specifics on any players.

Meanwhile, another Colorado top-six forward, Valeri Nichushkin, didn’t dress after suffering a lower-body injury of his own in the second period of Game 3. Joel Kiviranta made his series debut (and just his fifth appearance of the postseason) in his stead, with Nazem Kadri moving from third-line center to second-line wing.

Martin Nečas briefly left the game in the second period after a hip-check to the right knee by Tomáš Hertl (Colorado was furious about the lack of an interference call) but came back later in the period. Kadri returned the favor on Hertl with a big hit along the boards in the third period, following it up with an uncalled punch that knocked Hertl back to the ice after he had gotten to his feet. — Mark Lazerus

Vegas’ block party

Blocking shots has been a major part of Vegas’ winning recipe over the entire series, and it was again on Tuesday night. Hart played his role well, stopping almost every shot he faced, but the Golden Knights built a wall of defenders around their crease throughout the game, and Colorado struggled to get through to the goalie. The Golden Knights finished the game with 15 blocks.

Vegas plays a tight zone defense in which defensemen never stray too far from their net-front responsibilities. Theodore, Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin and McNabb all logged heavy minutes, and intuitively stepped into shooting lanes at the right moments.

Out near the points, the forwards pitched in as well. Dorofeyev and Mitch Marner didn’t make it on the score sheet (a rare occasion this postseason), but each blocked a pair of shots, as did Ivan Barbashev and Colton Sissons. — Granger

Avalanche switch goalies

Wedgewood wasn’t to blame for the Avalanche’s predicament entering Game 3, but a goaltending change was really the only card Bednar had to play. So Blackwood, who started the season as Colorado’s No. 1 but lost the net as Wedgewood enjoyed a career season, got the call for Game 4.

“We’re at 0-3 in the series, so it’s not a desperation move, it’s just you’ve got to make a change and see if something else works,” Bednar said before the game. “We felt confident in both guys all year long.”

Blackwood got undressed by Stone’s goal early on, but was sensational after that, all but singlehandedly keeping the Avalanche in the game. He stoned Marner from point-blank range late in the first period, and denied Hertl and Sissons less than a minute apart midway through the second period. But it was on a late-second-period Vegas power play that Blackwood really stepped up, making a pair of spectacular sprawling saves on Dorofeyev, one on either side of the net. Blackwood then added back-to-back stops on William Karlsson early in the third to keep it a one-goal game.

Wedgewood had been playing decently well, but wasn’t making that extra big save that Hart kept making at the other end. Blackwood did.

Blackwood, who had an .872 save percentage in three appearances this postseason before Game 4, finished with 24 saves.

“The first three games I watched, I was just in awe of what was happening,” Blackwood said after Game 4. “Honestly, it didn’t feel real. Today just piled on to that. Yeah, it sucks.” — Lazerus

Offensive offense for Avs

The Avalanche were the highest-scoring team in the league this season, averaging 3.63 goals per game.

They scored a total of seven goals in this series.

Among the players without a goal were MacKinnon, Nečas, Nelson, Lekhonen and Makar. Colorado simply had no answer for the Golden Knights, who clogged every shooting lane, got a stick on every pass and generally hounded them into submission. Even with their season on the line, down a goal in the third period of Game 4, in the most dire of circumstances, the Avalanche managed to get just one measly puck on net in the first 11 minutes. — Lazerus

Stone’s early gut-punch

As they have throughout this series, the Golden Knights absorbed an early siege by the Avalanche offense. Colorado cycled the puck around the Vegas zone for several consecutive shifts and just missed on a few dangerous chances. And as they have in every game of the series, the Golden Knights answered with a quick counter strike that served as a punch to the collective gut of the battered Avalanche players.

After Colorado failed to cash in on its abundance of zone time, McNabb flipped a puck high into the air, right onto the stick of Stone, streaking all alone toward the Avalanche net. He faked Blackwood out with a deke to his forehand, and tucked the puck inside the near-side post with ease to give Vegas the early lead.

It was Stone’s second goal of the series since returning from injury in Game 3. It was his fifth goal, and McNabb’s third assist, of the postseason. — Granger