DENVER — The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, and Colorado spent Thursday morning looking for a way to answer before hockey tonight turns to Ball Arena again.
The Avalanche held an optional skate at their practice facility, and Cale Makar was on the ice after missing Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. Coach Jared Bednar said he had no update on Makar and that the defenseman remains day to day, a significant note for a team that has to steady itself quickly in a best-of-7 series after Vegas seized a 1-0 lead.
Colorado did not get pushed around in the standings this season. The Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy for the NHL's best regular-season record, lost just 16 of 82 games in regulation and never dropped more than two games in a row during the regular season. They carried that edge into the playoffs, going 8-1 through the first two rounds before eliminating the Minnesota Wild on May 13 in five games.
That history is why a single loss does not read like a collapse here. Nazem Kadri said he expected a response from the Avalanche after Game 1, and he pointed back to the second round, when Colorado lost Game 3 and came back with a 5-2 win in Game 4. Bednar sounded just as direct about what needs to change. He said he wants better puck movement in all three zones and fewer Golden Knights transition chances, while stressing that the group already knows the standard it is chasing and does not need a dramatic speech to find it.
Colorado also had chances Wednesday, including 38 shots on goal, but Vegas jumped out to a three-goal lead and forced the Avalanche to spend the night chasing. Bednar said the team still had a chance in the game and believes it can be better than it was, but he also made clear that the next step is in the details: individual preparation, cleaner decisions and sharper execution as a group. Kadri said the room believes in its process and will not waver from it, even if outside noise starts early.
The next test comes Friday at Ball Arena at 8 p.m. ET, where Colorado will try to even the series before the pressure shifts farther onto the Avalanche. Makar's availability will hang over that game, but the larger issue is simpler: the Western Conference Final has started, Vegas has home-ice advantage, and Colorado now has to prove its regular-season control still means something when the margin gets this thin.
