The Colorado Avalanche went 2-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2025-26 regular season. While that is solid, it’s the specifics of the games that make it interesting.
The first game was a 4-2 victory for Colorado. The second was a 6-5 win. Game 3 was a 3-2 loss. Do you notice a pattern with any of that?
Well, I’ll let you in on it: These games were close. It’s not a recipe the Avalanche want to play with, as dominating in each and every game is obviously the preferred method. But, the Golden Knights are good at keeping games close.
Colorado Avalanche have to get a lead early vs Vegas Golden Knights
That is one of the biggest things that everybody is talking about. As long as the Golden Knights keep it close, they have a chance against Colorado, which is exactly why the Avs cannot let that happen.
If the Avalanche want to get through this series as easy as possible, they’ve got to start the scoring, preferrably at least two goals in the first period on Wednesday. That could set the tempo for the rest of Game 1. It is much easier to play with the lead than to play from behind. While urgency isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the lack of success at solving an opposing goaltender can be quite deflating.
The Avalanche’s rankings for goals per period are as follows: Period 1, 96 goals, 2nd overall; Period 2, 97 goals, 6th overall; Period 3, 102 goals, 4th overall.
For the Golden Knights, their goals per period are as follows: Period 1, 62 goals, 27th overall; Period 2, 86 goals, 17th overall; Period 3, 108 goals, 1st overall.
That last one is scary, but the Avalanche cannot let it get to their heads. I usually chuckle at a player’s intermission response to a question about their style of play, being that they have to just keep doing what they’re doing. But, as I’ve grown to know the game better, it’s really the truth. Players and coaches are confident in their systems, so they’ve got to tackle them head on and do it their way until it clicks.
There are a ton of different ways each game can go, so if the Avalanche are able to prevent Vegas from scoring in the first period, that could set them up for a picture-perfect finish.
Each playoff matchup brings new challenges. It will be interesting to see how fast the Golden Knights are, and if they are able to stand up to the Avalanche early on.
If Colorado is able to successfuly stick to their game the way they have played as of late, they should be able to win. Whether Cale Makar plays or not could be significant, but the Avalanche have had experience with him or other defenders out of the lineup, so if someone has to play somewhere else and with another defender, those past experieces will come in handy.
But, with all that’s been said as of late, since we found out that Colorado would be facing Vegas, several of these games in the series will likely come down to the wire.
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