Vegas is back in the Stanley Cup Final, and it got there by sweeping aside the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final on Tuesday. The Golden Knights closed the best-of-7 series in four games and will play for the Cup for the third time since joining the NHL in 2017.
Carter Hart was the latest reason the run felt sustainable. He returned from injury on April 2 and went 6-0-0 while stopping 133 of 143 shots, giving Vegas the kind of late-season stability it never found earlier in the year. When John Tortorella took over on March 29, replacing Bruce Cassidy, the Golden Knights had just one regulation win in eight games and were clinging to a three-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the West. By the time the regular season ended, they were 7-0-1 over their final eight games, had jumped past the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks to finish first in the Pacific Division, and carried that surge deep into the playoffs.
That momentum did not stop in the first two rounds. Vegas eliminated the Utah Mammoth in six games and then beat the Ducks in six more before taking on a Colorado team that had won the Presidents’ Trophy and finished 26 points ahead in the standings. The gap never showed up when the puck dropped. Vegas held Colorado to seven goals in four games and, after trailing 3-0 in Game 3 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, scored the next five goals to steal another comeback win. Tuesday’s closeout was tighter, but it ended the same way.
The sweep was also a reminder that Vegas did not spend most of this season looking like a conference finalist. It sat in the bottom half of the West for long stretches and did not resemble one of the league’s most reliable teams until the coaching change and the late push around it. Mark Stone and Jack Eichel were central to that turnaround, with Stone collecting nine points in the final eight regular-season games and Eichel adding 12. The Golden Knights also added forward Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the offseason, another piece of a roster built to keep chasing.
Now the only question left is the opponent. Vegas will face either the Carolina Hurricanes or Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, with Carolina carrying a 3-1 series lead into Friday’s Game 5 at home. However that series ends, the Knights arrive with the cleaner record, the sharper edge and a sweep over the Presidents’ Trophy winner that few saw coming.
