Golden Knights Take Advantage of Injured Makar, Stun Avalanche With Game 2 Victory
DENVER, May 22nd, 2026— On Friday morning, Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella sat in front of a microphone for his pregame media availability and announced that he wouldn’t be satisfied with a split heading back home. “I think we need to be better if we’re going to have an opportunity,” he said. “Because we’re thinking about getting two out of here… We’ve had some things that we’ve talked about that we need to adjust, even though we got a win.
We’re all-in; we’re trying to get another one out of here. ” Tortorella got his wish. The Golden Knights stunned the Colorado Avalanche with one of their trademarked third period comebacks and held on for a 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.
In the first period, the Golden Knights were the better team. They outshot the Avalanche 12-11 and generated 13 scoring chances against Colorado’s six. However, they entered the first intermission trailing by one.
The Avalanche broke the ice at 16:59 in the first. Nazem Kadri worked the puck up to Brent Burns at the point, who ripped off a one-timer towards the net. Ross Colton drifted out from around the goal line, batted down Burns’ shot, and beat Carter Hart glove-side.
COLORADO STRIKES FIRST IN GAME 2! 📺: @espn , @Sportsnet & @TVASports pic. twitter.