Hockey roundup: Vegas takes West final opener; Montreal earns PWHL championship

Denver – Dylan Coghlan and Pavel Dorofeyev scored 2:33 apart in the second period, Carter Hart made 36 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday. Brett Howton also had a goal and Nic Dowd scored into an empty net for Vegas, which grabbed home-ice advantage from the Presidents' Trophy winners. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played Friday night in Denver.

Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog scored while Scott Wedgewood turned away 24 shots for Colorado, which trails in a series for the first time in this postseason. Vegas captain Mark Stone (lower-body injury) and Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (upper body) were scratched. Both teams had chances in a scoreless first period.

Keegan Kolesar nearly gave the Golden Knights the lead on a partial breakaway early on. Logan O'Connor hit the post for the Avalanche, and Hart made a save on Nazem Kadri in the waning seconds of the period. Vegas finally broke through at 12:29 of the second period.

Brandon Saad sent a pass to Coghlan in the slot, and Coghlan's wrister beat Wedgewood through the pads for his first goal of the postseason. Colorado's Ross Colton took a roughing penalty less than two minutes later, and the Golden Knights took advantage. Mitch Marner stretched out with the puck and whipped a pass to Dorofeyev coming down the right side.