Defense wins championships. It may sound like a cliche, but for the Golden Knights, it’s become a reality.
A team that struggled to keep the puck out of its own net for 82 games, allowing 242 goals against or 2.95 per game, has turned the corner in the postseason, holding three of the better offensive teams in the NHL to just 38 goals in 16 games, 2.38 per game.
In the last 11 playoff games, the Golden Knights have allowed just 21 goals. They’ve held their opponents to exactly one goal five different times and have allowed more than three just once, a Game 4 loss to Anaheim.
Regular Season
Postseason
Difference
UTA
3.27
3.00
-0.27
ANA
3.23
2.17
-1.06
COL
3.63
1.75
-1.88
It’s something we have been concentrating on, and I think we’ve gotten better and better through the rounds. -John Tortorella
Obviously, goaltending has played a massive role in keeping the puck out of the net. Carter Hart has posted incredible numbers this postseason, especially over the last two rounds. He’s currently boasting a .924 save percentage and 2.22 goals against per game. To put those numbers in perspective, the Golden Knights allowed more than two goals in 48 of their 82 regular season games, or 59%. As a team, they finished with a save percentage worse than .924 in 66 games, 80%. His postseason *average*, is better than 59% and 80% this year. Pretty crazy.
It may not have been the plan all along, but the Golden Knights were built for this.
Throughout this 82 game season, we put ourselves in some pretty pretty tough spots that we were able to dig ourselves out of. It’s not ideal to get down three-nothing early on, but we’ve been through that this year, and I think we could really rely on the games where we were able to come back and then the games that we let just completely go. -Mark Stone
Only one team in the NHL trailed for more time this season than the Vegas Golden Knights. In other words, only Vegas and Vanvoucer, have had as much experience trying to recover games from a losing position.
Time and time again this year the Golden Knights fell behind then got to work and began the climb back to even or better. 21 times in the regular season the Golden Knights came back to win a game they trailed. There were more than 10 others in which they fought back to send the game to OT but fell in the extra session. They allowed the first goal of the game 48 times and trailed entering the 2nd period on 36 separate occasions.
For us it’s kind of been that way all season. We’ve been down a lot, and we never quit. We’ve come back so many times. After the 1st, even being down three nothing, we knew we could do it because we’re a veteran team and we have great players. -Tomas Hertl
The Colorado Avalanche had won 54 consecutive games in which they held a multi-goal lead. They had not lost a single game in regulation when they held a lead after the first 20 minutes (30-0-4). And, the Golden Knights were 0-19 when trailing by three at any point in a playoff game.
But for this team, none of it mattered.
This is a game where we showed some balls. -John Tortorella
For most teams, falling behind is unsustainable. For most teams, overcoming 54, 34, and 19 game streaks is impossible. For most teams, being the outlier is unlikely.
Not for this team.
Not in this moment.
They always say, practice makes perfect, and right now, the Golden Knights are perfect.
Tonight, the Golden Knights are looking to extend their postseason winning streak to five games with a victory in Game 3. It would be the 7th five-game winning streak in franchise history if they pull it off. They completed two five-game undefeated stretches in 2023 and went on to win the Stanley Cup trophy in five games. Vegas did it also in 2021 and twice in the 2018 playoffs. By all accounts, the Golden Knights are one of their greatest runs in club history. Maybe, even the best stretch in franchise history.
VGK’s Postseason Win Streaks Since In Club History
2025-26: 4 Straight Wins (Utah Game 4 – ANA Game 1)
2025-26: 4 Straight Wins (ANA Game 5 – COL Game 2)
2024-25: 3 Straight Wins (MIN Game 4 – Game 6)
2023-24: 2 Straight Wins (DAL Game 1 & Game 2)
2022-23: 5 Straight Wins (WPG Game 2 – EDM Game 1)
2022-23: 5 Straight Wins (EDM Game 5 – DAL Game 3)
2021-22: Missed Playoffs
2020-21: 5 Straight Wins (COL Game 3 – MTL Game 1)
2019-20: 3 Straight Wins (CHI Game 1 – Game 3)
2018-19: 3 Straight Wins (SJ Game 2 – Game 4)
2017-18: 5 Straight Wins (LAK Game 1 – SJ Game 1)
2017-18: 5 Straight Wins (WPG Game 2 – WSH Game 1)
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, but if the Golden Knights sweep the Avalanche, it would be a franchise best six straight playoff wins. Those are the type of stretches that only championship teams string together. Like the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights.
Help our defense when we don’t have the puck, do the little things right, compete, and when you have the opportunity to produce and make plays, do that. It’s always been a focus of my game, and I think it’s something that you really need to hone in on this time of year. We know how hard it is to win, and a lot of that falls on playing hard defensively. -Jack Eichel
The 2024 Florida Panthers won six straight games en route to securing their franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship. The Panthers trailed 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Final before rattling off six wins in a row. Florida defeated the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Conference Final and didn’t lose again until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The 2021 Tampa Bay Lighting also won six consecutive games in the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche may be the faster team, and they may even be the more skilled team. When the puck is in the center of the ice, the Avs have controlled both Games 1 and 2. Yet, the Golden Knights are heading back to Las Vegas with a 2-0 stranglehold on the series.
The reason for it is in large part due to their dominance when the puck is along the walls.
Through the two games at Ball Arena, the Golden Knights came out victorious time and time again when the game moved from open ice to confined spaces. It’s the one clear and obvious place VGK have the advantage, and it’s clear that was a focus heading into the series.
You see it all the time in these games, it’s little things that turn into big things. There’s not always going to be a perfect play, there’s not always going to be a pass that will advance the game up the ice, but there are always going to be little plays where you can get the puck out to the neutral zone and just reset. -Cole Smith
John Tortorella refuses to take credit for it, but it’s one of the most noticeable places of improvement for the Golden Knights since the coaching change. It’s highly unlikely Cassidy wasn’t putting an emphasis on it, but for whatever reason, what wasn’t happening for 74 games in the regular season is now.
Some in Colorado are calling Vegas’ Game 1 victory a punch in the face to the Avalanche. The fear is real in Denver. Colorado fans are worried their beloved Avalanche will trip and fall out of the playoffs at the hands of the Golden Knights once again. For a team that posted 26 more points and 14 more wins than Vegas in the regular season, Colorado has shown some concern.
They won the year after us. They have a lot of guys who know what it takes. I can’t see this being a short series. It’s going to be tough, we are ready for a seven gamer. -Nathan MacKinnon, COL center
Superstar center Nathan MacKinnon looked a lot like the player the Golden Knights defeated in 2021. The Avs top player missed the net on four occasions in Game 1 and had several errant passes that could have created quality chances. Vegas’ team defense frustrated Colorado’s playmakers by blocking 24 shots and forcing them to miss wide 18 times. The expectations are that the Avalanche will clean up their game and even up the series. But, there’s another team that will have a say on Friday night.
We saw this movie against the Los Angeles Kings. It was boring, grueling, but ultimately rewarding.
The difference between the Kings and Golden Knights is that Las Vegas can, you know, score. The Kings played as Las Vegas did, but their endgame was to play keep-away, not to win the game.
The Golden Knights are not passengers. On Wednesday, they were more productive in space than the Artemis II astronauts.
Wednesday night represented the Golden Knights’ third straight postseason victory, and eighth in 10 tries. Five of the last six wins have been by multiple goals. In fact, Vegas has only three one-goal wins this postseason and every single one of them was in overtime. So, it’s not like Vegas has been living by the edge by desperately holding onto one-goal advantages. Against the Avalanche, the Golden Knights were ahead by one for less than five minutes in a 60-minute affair. Overall, Vegas led for a total of 28 minutes, while the Presidents’ Trophy winner never led.
There is pressure. But you want that pressure. Teams that don’t have that are either not playing or didn’t make the playoffs. You want this. You want to be in the last dance. -Nic Roy, COL forward
There’s pressure on the Golden Knights as well tonight. A victory in Game 2 would give Vegas an 80% chance of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. After doing their job of guaranteeing a series split on Wednesday, the Golden Knights will try to secure their sixth straight playoff win over the Avalanche in Game 2.
We gave them easy scoring chances. Some of them off odd man rushes, some off turnovers, some of them off execution. I didn’t think we made them earn their chances that were the difference makers in the game. – Jared Bednar, COL coach
According to the Denver press, if Vegas advances, Colorado will be nothing but a “footnote” in NHL history. And you thought we were tough.
This postseason, the Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche are each 2-0 in closeout games. Oddly enough, three out of the four clinching games ended in 5-1 victories, spotlighting both rosters’ ability to close out a series in dominant fashion.
It’s unlikely that the conference finals will play out as easily for either club. Each lineup has an explosive offense and is allowing less than three goals per game. Vegas may have been rewarded with an easier route to the Western Conference Final, but both rosters are in the same position with nearly the same amount of rest.
Conference Final Top Scorers
Mitch Marner – 1.50 PPG
Nathan MacKinnon – 1.44 PPG
Jack Eichel – 1.25 PPG
Martin Necas – 1.22 PPG
Pavel Dorofeyev – 0.92 PPG
Gabriel Landeskog – 0.89 PPG
Devon Toews – 0.89 PPG
Brett Howden – 0.83 PPG
Altogether, Vegas is averaging 4.5 points a game from their top playmakers. Not only are the Golden Knights competing with the Avalanche’s top producers, but they’re actually a few notches better so far. Three of the top four goal scorers in the postseason are in VGK’s top six, and Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner are first and third in most postseason assists.
The Golden Knights have outscored their opponents by 13 goals in the playoffs. Closely enough, the Avalanche are +14 in postseason goal differential. As for the final 40 minutes, Colorado and Vegas have 28 goals apiece in the 2nd and 3rd periods. No one is doubting the offensive abilities of each team.
It’s hard to believe considering the level of dominance these two teams have held over the rest of the Western Conference in the past decade, but this is just the second ever playoff series between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche.
A lot has happened since the Second Round series back in 2021. Both teams have won a Stanley Cup, they’ve each seen some significant turnover in their rosters, and they’ve had a few playoff heartbreaks along the way.
The core of each team still remains though and there’s certainly something to be taken away from how the Golden Knights managed to win that series, as well as what went wrong for the Avs.
Here’s a look at the lineups from Game 6 on June 10th, 2021. (Players in red are no longer with the organization.)
