Golden Knights head to Cup Final after completing sweep of Avalanche

Mark Stone and Cole Smith scored goals and Carter Hart made 20 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 to compete a four-game sweep of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Vegas, which won its sixth straight playoff game, advances to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in nine seasons. The Golden Knights will face the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens.

The Golden Knights lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Washington Capitals in five games in their inaugural season in 2018 before defeating the Florida Panthers in five games to win the 2023 title.

Gabriel Landeskog scored a 6-on-5 goal with 2:03 left for Colorado's lone goal. The Avalanche, who finished the regular season with a league-best 121 points, became just the fifth Presidents' Trophy-winning team to get swept in a playoff series.

No Presidents' Trophy recipient has reached the Stanley Cup Final since the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks won the championship.

Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 24 saves. Blackwood, making his series debut, entered the contest with a 0-4-1 career record and a 3.63 goals-against average against Vegas but kept the Avalanche in the game with a number of blue-chip saves.

Nathan MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 regular-season goals and was questionable after taking a puck off his right knee in Game 3 on Sunday, led all Avalanche forwards with 22:10 time on ice and had two shots on goal.

Vegas, which scored five unanswered goals over the final two periods to pull out a 5-3 victory in Game 3 on Sunday, made it six consecutive goals when Stone scored at the 4:42 mark of the first period.

Brayden McNabb picked up the primary assist, lobbing a long stretch pass that Stone caught just before the blue line. Stone then went in on a breakaway, deking Blackwood and then wrapping a shot around his left leg for his fifth goal of the playoffs.

Colorado had a good chance to tie it near the end of the period when Brock Nelson had a breakaway, but Hart made a glove save on his wrist shot.

Vegas took charge in a scoreless second period, outshooting the Avalanche 11-6, including a couple grade-A chances by Pavel Dorofeyev on a power play near the end of the period that Blackwood turned away. Colorado didn't register a shot on goal over the final 14 minutes of the period.

Smith made it 2-0 with 5:45 to go in the third period when he deflected Dylan Coghlan's shot through Blackwood's pads for his third playoff goal and the game-winner.

Colorado pulled Blackwood for an extra attacker with 2:15 remaining, and Landeskog scored just 18 seconds later, deflecting a Martin Necas shot in the slot over Hart's shoulder.

Colorado pulled Blackwood again shortly after the ensuing faceoff but managed just one shot the rest of the way, a slap shot by MacKinnon that Hart saved.

--Field Level Media