The Colorado Avalanche are in a tough situation. They dropped the first two games in the Western Conference Finals at home to the Vegas Golden Knights. What happened?
The Golden Knights won by the final score of 3-1. The game, however, was much closer than the score portrays. Colorado controlled the game for two and a half periods, and then it all unraveled for the Avalanche.
The opening of this game favored the tempo of Vegas. Their defense kept Colorado off balance, making every shot a difficult one. Offensively, they made a living on the Avalanche side as the game started with the Golden Knights maintaining a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.
Colorado then settled in. Its offense began to pick up in the second half of the first period, and Ross Colton scored with three minutes left in the first period. It was the Avalanche’s first time scoring in the opening 20 minutes since Game One against the Minnesota Wild in the second round.
The second period was a standstill, scoring-wise, but action-packed. Vegas had multiple chances to score on a power play, and Colorado held their ground defensively. Amidst the Golden Knights’ power play, the Avalanche caused a penalty of their own, leading to a four-on-four. Colorado dominated the open ice action and had a chance to create some distance in the game. Instead, the Avalanche failed to score, and the period ended 1-0.
The third period began and was more of the same. The two teams looked even, and it was a back-and-forth game. The story of the contest favored Colorado. A standstill would have led to an Avalanche victory.
It looked like a 1-0 Colorado final was where the game was ending until Jack Eichel scored around the 10:30 mark to knot it at 1-1, and the momentum completely shifted. It was the beginning of a collapse for the home team.
Two minutes later, Vegas scored again to go up 2-1, and Ball Arena went silent. The Avalanche were in desperation mode and were unable to generate any good looks, so with around three minutes to go, they emptied the net.
With just over a minute left, Colorado’s Brock Nelson had a good look to tie the game, but it was blocked for what felt like the 70th time by the Golden Knights’ goalie, Carter Hart. Ivan Barbeshev then scored on a half-court shot to an empty net to ice the game 3-1
It was an avalanche of disaster in Colorado for the home team.
It’s a tough situation for the Avalanche, but they have been the best team all year. They led all divisions with 55 wins and totaled 121 points, which was the best in the league by a decent margin.
A team like that won’t just lie low and get swept. Las Vegas should expect its best punch on Sunday night.
Teams are 1-53 in series when dropping the first two games at home in the Conference Finals. Can Colorado be the second?
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