Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Tuesday night delivered the first ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, and it came with a broom. The Vegas Golden Knights completed a stunning sweep of the heavily favored Colorado Avalanche, grinding out a suffocating 2-1 victory on home ice to close out the Western Conference Final. Facing elimination, the Avalanche threw everything they had at the Knights in a desperate bid to keep their season alive. It simply was not enough against a dialed-in Carter Hart, who shut the door while Mark Stone and C. Smith provided the timely offense needed to advance. With the Western Conference side of the bracket now officially decided, Vegas gets to enjoy some well-earned rest. They will await the survivor of the Eastern Conference Final, which is shaping up to be a much longer battle. Over in the East, the Carolina Hurricanes currently hold a narrow 2-1 series edge over the Montreal Canadiens. That matchup resumes shortly, with Montreal fighting desperately to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination on home ice. The biggest takeaway from Tuesday is just how quickly the mighty can fall in the postseason. Colorado looked absolutely unstoppable while dropping just one game through the first two rounds, only to be completely dismantled and swept by Vegas in four straight.