Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Golden Knights counter Colorado’s best punch in Game 5, send Avs to brink

Golden Knights Win Game 5 in OT

David Zalubowski/AP

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nick Holden, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Zach Whitecloud and right wing Reilly Smith celebrate with teammates after the Golden Knights scored in overtime of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, as Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, back, reacts Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Denver. The Golden Knights won 3-2.

Golden Knights Win Game 5 in OT

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nick Holden celebrates with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Zach Whitecloud and right wing Reilly Smith, from left, after the Golden Knights scored in overtime of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Denver. The Golden Knights won 3-2. Launch slideshow »

DENVER — What the Golden Knights did Tuesday at Ball Arena will go down in Vegas hockey history regardless of how the series finishes. If they end up advancing beyond this round, it could be the game that defines what is shaping up to be a magical season.

The Golden Knights trailed 2-0 going to the third period, surviving the Avalanche’s best jabs and countering with body blows of their own to send the game to overtime. From there it only took 50 seconds for Mark Stone to end it.

And it had to be Stone. 

This series was everything that everyone who pleaded to the hockey gods had wanted, and this game was the best of the bunch so far. It couldn’t have been a role player getting a funky bounce. It had to be the captain, the star of the team, the best player rising to the occasion to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory, one game from the Stanley Cup semifinals.

“He’s the heart and soul of this team,” forward Alex Tuch said. “He wears the character on his chest, he’s the captain that we’ve always wanted and it’s a huge goal.”

The series isn’t over, of course. 

If you don’t think the Avalanche are capable of winning two in a row and shattering Las Vegas’ collective heart, you don’t know the Avalanche.

But if you think there’s no chance the Golden Knights close out this series in front of a raucous T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, you don’t know the Golden Knights.

Tuesday’s victory was perhaps the most impressive of the series, maybe even the season, considering the 2-0 deficit they found themselves in after 40 minutes.

The Avalanche got a fortunate goal with 1.8 seconds left in the first period when Marc-Andre Fleury whiffed on a Brandon Saad “why-not” offering at the net. 

It seemed to invigorate Colorado, which pounded the Vegas zone in the second period to generate 13 of the period’s 17 scoring chances. Still, it looked like the Golden Knights might escape the period unscathed, but Joonas Donskoi’s one-timer with 3:32 to go gave Colorado a 2-0 lead.

“Normally we pride ourselves on being really good in the second period … but tonight they were the better team in the second period,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “They were really good. That was their push. But we’ve been a team for four years, we’re resilient. We don’t sit back and we knew that we had a chance to come out hard in the third period and we did that.”

Did they ever. 

It took just 67 seconds for Mattias Janmark, who was returning from an injury sustained in Game 1, to get his stick on the ice to break up a pass and force a turnover. 

He worked the puck to Nicolas Roy, who found a streaking Alex Tuch. Tuch popped the puck into the air then batted it by Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer for the first Vegas goal.

Then it was Marchessault, who broke loose on an odd-man rush William Karlsson. Karlsson found Marchessault, who scored to the side of the net for the equalizer.

Just like that the Golden Knights had life in a building where the Avalanche had not lost since fans were allowed back inside in March.

Stone broke that trend.

Max Pacioretty blocked a shot and fed Stone, who stormed down the ice, exhausting all the air left in his lungs, outracing two Colorado defenders and snapping the puck into the corner of the net for the game winner.

“Sometimes when a d-man shoots it like that they get flat-footed, so I just took off,” Stone said. “I was fortunate to end the game.”

Vegas’ remarkable comeback silenced the crowd, save for the voice of the people in Colorado who bellowed a four-letter expletive summing up the feelings the Avalanche must have now.

They had the Golden Knights on the ropes in this series. They were outplayed in Game 2 but still won in overtime to grab a 2-0 series lead. They were fewer than six minutes from making that lead 3-0 two nights later had it not been for a ferocious Vegas rally.

Now it’s the Golden Knights who control this series, because this felt like Colorado emptied the tank and still came up empty. The Avalanche were destroyed in the two games at T-Mobile Arena, the one-goal loss in Game 3 far less representative than the 5-1 shellacking in Game 4. 

Vegas knew Colorado would adjust when it got home, and through the second period it worked.

The Avalanche took advantage of the last line change at home by keeping star forward Nathan MacKinnon away from the line of Stone, Pacioretty and Chandler Stephenson that frustrated him the last three games. MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanan stayed together for Game 5, but the third member of the triumvirate, captain Gabriel Landeskog, dropped to the second line and drew the assignment of defending Stone and his line.

The idea was to open up MacKinnon, Rantanen and new tag-team partner Brandon Saad against a line that didn’t have a Selke Trophy finalist like Stone on it. And while MacKinnon’s numbers were better than they’ve been since Game 1, he had just two shots on goal and did not record a point. Like the second period as a whole, the Golden Knights bent, but never break when facing one of the best players in the world, who has just one assist since Game 2.

It’s been the Golden Knights’ best players stepping up, the Golden Knights’ best players shutting down the Avalanche stars and bringing the team back from the brink after their first trip to Ball Arena.

The Golden Knights have won three in a row against a team that only lost three in a row once this year, and they did it by coming from behind in every game. Tuesday was the best of the bunch, doing so in a hostile environment and against the biggest deficit they’d seen since Game 1.

Colorado put Vegas to the mat in the early rounds, both in the game and in the series. The Golden Knights have popped back up every time, and will have a chance for a knockout the next time they share the ice.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy