Team effort epitomized Golden Knights' Game 1 win
There were contributions up and down the lineup for John Tortorella as Vegas defeated Colorado 4-2.
Vegas Golden Knights center Nic Dowd (26) celebrates with center Jack Eichel (9)after scoring during the third period against the Colorado Avalanche in game one of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. There are various types of victories a team achieves, particularly during the postseason. Normally, there’s one or two individual efforts that carry a team to the finish line first.
But sometimes, it takes the entire team to contribute to get the W. For the Vegas Golden Knights, Wednesday in Denver was one of those team victories. From goaltender Carter Hart, who was stellar in goal with 36 saves, to Dylan Coghlan, who hadn’t scored a goal in the NHL since 2021 during his first go-round with the Knights and gave his team the lead in the second period, to Mitch Marner, who continues to dazzle with his passing and made a beautiful setup for Pavel Dorofeyev’s power play goal which made it 2-0, to Brett Howden, whose hustle resulted in his ninth goal of the playoffs that gave Vegas a 3-0 lead early in the third period.
It’s how the Knights took home-ice advantage away from the Colorado Avalanche by winning Game 1, 4-2. They’ll look to get greedy come Friday in Game 2 at Ball Arena. But they weren’t the only heroes Wednesday.
Not by a long shot. There was Nic Dowd who was great at the faceoff dot, winning 10 of 16 draws, including some big ones in the defensive end when the Avalanche had closed within 3-2 and was pressing hard for the equalizer late. Dowd would seal the deal with sheer hustle and getting an empty net goal with 45 seconds remaining.