NHL Playoff Predictions 2026: Will the Avalanche or Golden Knights represent the West?
Two well-built, dominant, and recent Stanley Cup-winning teams will battle in the Western Conference finals. Will the Colorado Avalanche continue to dominate, or will the Vegas Golden Knights continue their march?
NHL Playoff Predictions 2026: Will the Avalanche or Golden Knights represent the West? originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The conference final stage has officially arrived in these Stanley Cup playoffs, with the final four teams remaining as the Carolina Hurricanes , Montreal Canadiens , Colorado Avalanche , and Vegas Golden Knights . The Avalanche and Golden Knights kick things off on Wednesday with Game 1 at Ball Arena in Denver. The Central and Pacific division winners will battle for a spot in the Cup final, which should be an entertaining, likely long series.
Nonetheless, here is our prediction for the Western Conference final. Colorado Avalanche (C1) Vs. Vegas Golden Knights (P1) Season series: Avalanche 2-1 Why Colorado Will Win: The Avalanche made a statement to the rest of the NHL when they slayed the Minnesota Wild in just five games.
That series was expected to be longer, reaching the six or seven-game mark, but Colorado was able to wrap it up quickly, despite Minnesota finishing seventh in the NHL regular-season standings. Let alone the fact that the Avalanche dominated in the regular season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy with an eight-point lead over the Hurricanes. Their performance against the Wild makes them the clear favorite against the Golden Knights in this Western Conference final.