Golden Knights Rally Late to Beat Avalanche 3-1, Take 2-0 Series Lead

Vegas Takes Commanding 2-0 lead over colorado with game 2 comeback  

Vegas erases a 1-0 deficit in the third to win 3-1, ending Colorado’s 45-0-0 record when ahead after 40 minutes this season.

Carter Hart’s 29 saves and a late surge give Vegas a 2-0 series lead over Colorado after a 3-1 win in Game 2...

The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Friday night in Game 2, pushing their series lead to 2-0.

Colorado had been 45-0-0 this season when leading after two periods, but Vegas ended that streak with three unanswered goals in the third. It’s the fourth time this postseason the Knights have come from behind in the final period to win.

Carter Hart was again solid in net for Vegas, stopping 29 shots. Colorado has managed just three goals across Games 1 and 2, their lowest output over any two-game span in the playoffs so far.

The defeats mark the first time the Avalanche have lost back-to-back games in a series this postseason. The last time Vegas went up 2-0 to start a series was against Dallas in 2023, the year they won the Stanley Cup.

Game Recap

Neither side held back early, with Vegas and Colorado combining for 23 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes. Despite the volume, only one found the net before the break.

Mitch Marner looked to extend his hot streak and nearly beat Scott Wedgewood to give Vegas the lead, but Wedgewood stood firm. Colorado capitalized on the momentum shift.

Heat check Mitchy going half clapper on the breakaway 😅 pic.twitter.com/zOYbytYgt3

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 23, 2026

Ross Colton netted his second goal of the playoffs, assisted by Brent Burns and Nazem Kadri, to put the Avalanche up 1-0. Coming into the game, Colorado had been 5-0 when scoring first.

The first period was penalty-free, but that changed quickly in the second. Three penalties came in the opening two minutes, with two of them against Colorado’s Martin Necas.

Vegas couldn’t make the advantage count. Jack Eichel was then called for interference, turning it into 4-on-4 hockey, and neither team made use of the extra space.

The Knights finished 0-for-3 on the power play in the period, while Colorado went 0-for-1. Neither side scored, and Vegas managed only four shots on goal to bring their total to 16, compared to Colorado’s 20.

That changed midway through the third. Eichel scored his second of the playoffs to tie the game 1-1 and shift the momentum in Vegas’s favor.

The goal was Eichel’s 60th playoff point in 54 games, making him the third-fastest U.S.-born player to reach that mark. Only Kevin Stevens at 46 games and Brian Leetch at 49 got there quicker.

Vegas didn’t stop there. Barely a minute later, they struck again with back-to-back shots.

Ivan Barbashev scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to put the Knights up 2-1, just two minutes after Eichel’s equalizer. Barbashev had assisted on Eichel’s goal, while Eichel returned the favor on Barbashev’s for his 16th assist. Pavel Dorofeyev picked up a helper on both goals, giving him four assists in the postseason.

Barbashev sealed it with an empty-netter for his fifth goal of the postseason, pushing the score to 3-1 and securing the Game 2 win for Vegas. Colorado felt the absence of Cale Makar again, as he missed a second straight game.

The numbers didn’t go Vegas’s way overall. The Knights were outshot 30-25, won just 43% of face-offs, and both teams went 0-for-6 on the power play.

  

With the series now shifting back to Vegas, the Golden Knights sit two wins away from a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.