The NHL set the Golden Knights schedule on Thursday, announcing that the Colorado Avalanche will open the Western Conference final against Vegas next Wednesday at Ball Arena in Denver. Game 1 is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on May 20.
The league also released the dates and times for the rest of the series, with Game 2 set for Friday, May 22 at 6 p.m., Game 3 for Sunday, May 24 at 6 p.m. and Game 4 on Tuesday, May 26, with the start time still to be determined. If the series goes the distance, Game 5 is set for Thursday, May 28 at 6 p.m., Game 6 for Saturday, May 30 at 6 p.m. and Game 7 for Monday, June 1 at 6 p.m. All games except Game 6 will be shown on, while ABC will carry Game 6 if needed.
Colorado earned the matchup a night earlier with a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5, when Brett Kulak scored the goal that sent the Avalanche through. Vegas followed by beating the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of its second-round series on Thursday night, completing the bracket that now sends the teams into a West final meeting. The Avalanche took the season series 2-0-1, a small edge that gives them a clean read on a playoff opponent that has played them tight before.
This is Colorado’s eighth trip to the Western Conference final since relocating to Denver before the 1995-96 season, and the club carries a 3-4 record in the round. The Avalanche have reached this stage only twice in their last nine playoff appearances, but they turned the last of those deep runs into a Stanley Cup in 2022 after getting past the second round. That makes the timing of this bracket announcement more than a calendar note: Colorado is back in a round it has reached often, but not always converted, after leading the NHL for most of the regular season and winning its fourth Presidents’ Trophy.
The schedule now gives the Avalanche a firm runway into a series that begins at home and could stretch into June. What matters next is whether Colorado can turn the regular-season edge over Vegas into the kind of playoff result it has not consistently produced in conference finals, even with the top seed on its side.
