The Colorado Avalanche dropped a 4-2 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of their second-round series on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. The loss marks the first time Colorado has trailed in a series in the 2020 playoffs. Vegas took control early and never looked back, with Dylan Coghlan and Pavel Dorofeyev each scoring in the second period before Brett Howden added a third goal late in the frame.
Colorado showed some life in the third, with Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog each finding the back of the net to cut the deficit to one. But the Golden Knights sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Avalanche outshot Vegas 34-27 overall but struggled to convert key chances.
Head coach Jared Bednar was critical of his team’s play after the game. “I didn’t like our puck play tonight,” he said. “We gave them a handful of odd-man rushes that came off of our turnovers and missed execution, even if we were doing the right thing.”
The second period was the turning point. Vegas scored two goals in just over three minutes, both stemming from defensive breakdowns. Coghlan opened the scoring at 5:23, then Dorofeyev made it 2-0 at 8:33. Colorado’s response was delayed until late in the third when Nichushkin scored at the 14:57 mark.
Goalie Scott Wedgewood was charged with the loss, allowing three goals on 27 shots for a .889 save percentage. That was his worst performance of the postseason and his lowest save percentage since Game 1 of the first-round series against Minnesota, which the Avalanche won 9-6.
The absence of All-Star defenseman Cale Makar was also felt. Makar is out with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. “He’s an important player,” Bednar said. “Some of the areas that we struggled with tonight, those are his strengths.”
Vegas now holds a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 is set for Friday, May 22 at Ball Arena in Denver. The Avalanche are 0-1 in the series and must bounce back quickly to avoid being down two games before the second weekend of the playoffs.
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