Open Thread: Vegas Golden Knights @ Colorado Avalanche @ (6:00 P.M.)

Dec 27, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas (88) collides with Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) after scoring a goal during a shoot out at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Colorado Avalanche, fresh off a Presidents Trophy-clinching performance on Thursday, play their final weekend game of the regular season tonight.

After a three and a half month hiatus, they will wrap up the season series against the Vegas Golden Knights, who pay their only(?) visit to the Mile High City this spring.

Colorado Avalanche (52-16-10)

The Opponent: Vegas Golden Knights (36-26-17)

Time: 6:00 P.M. MDT/8:00 P.M. EDT

Watch: ABC, ESPN (US National Broadcast), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Outside Colorado and Vegas broadcast areas – Canada)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche

As mentioned above, the Avalanche secured their rightful place as the undisputed leader across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings in their 3-1 defeat of the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Gabe Landeskog would open the scoring late in the first period, and Martin Nečas scored on a pretty play as he skated through the Calgary defense to double the lead in the second period. A sleepy third period (and an extra skater in place of goaltender Dustin Wolf late in the frame) cracked open the door for Calgary, who had a tying goal wiped out due to a successful offside challenge by Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. Nathan MacKinnon would ice the game on an empty net goal late in regulation for his League-leading 52nd goal of the season, ensuring that Colorado would claim the fourth Presidents Trophy in franchise history. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 28 of 29 shots for his 22nd win of the season.

With the win, Avs locked in home ice advantage throughout the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs. With their position as the top seed in the playoffs now secured, Bednar has the option to rest players up and down the lineup. Speaking on the option to rest some players leading up to the end of the season, he said, “I’d like to see all of our guys play games yet before the playoffs […] If they’re able to play, we’ll get them as much rest as we can in between games, and then some guys, I’m going to try to get some guys a little bit of a breather that, I think, could probably benefit from it.”

Tonight wraps up the three game series against Vegas, with the Avs having won both of the previous two games. The last time both teams met was coming out of the holiday break back on December 27 at T-Mobile Arena. With Vegas leading 4-2 at the beginning of the third period, Nečas and MacKinnon would score to pull the Avs back on even footing, and despite falling behind with four minutes to play in regulation, a goal from Artturi Lehkonen with under two minutes pushed the game to overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session, and MacKinnon scored the shootout winning goal to complete the comeback as the Avs walked out with a 6-5 decision.

MacKinnon remains atop the League lead in goals coming into tonight’s game, having set a career high with his 52nd goal of the season on Thursday. With four games remaining in the regular season, his 126 points ranks third behind Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov (128) and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (133). Nečas is two goals shy of his first ever 40 goal season, and two points away from his first 100 point season. Bednar indicated that Nazem Kadri will require further evaluation before rejoining the lineup, and he expects Cale Makar to return to action prior to the end of the season.

Scott Wedgewood is likely to start in goal for the Avs tonight. A win against Vegas would see him reach the thirty win mark for the first time in his career.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Nicolas Roy – Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Defense:
Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak – Josh Manson
Nick Blankenburg – Brent Burns

Between the Pipes:
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Vegas Golden Knights

A hot start that saw Vegas begin the season with a near identical record to Colorado through the month of October was derailed by a combination of injuries to key personnel: forwards Jack Eichel, William Karlsson Brandon Saad, Colton Sissons, Mark Stone, defensemen Brayden McNabb, Noah Hanafin, Jérémy Lauzon, and goaltenders Adin Hill and Carter Hart all missed time throughout the season. Even with so many injuries through their lineup, Vegas strung together several modest winning streaks through the year, including a stretch that saw them win seven straight games in January. However, they struggled to maintain their winning ways, winning only five games coming out of the Olympic break, and those hardships would only continue through February and March. As the season winds down, Vegas finds themselves tied with the Anaheim Ducks in points (89), but due to tiebreakers, currently occupy second place in the porous Pacific Division.

This isn’t the same Vegas team that previously faced Colorado back in December. They made their first trade of 2026 in January, sending longtime defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defenseman Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first round pick, and a 2028 second-round pick in 2028 to Calgary for defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Leading up to the trade deadline, they acquired depth forward Cole Smith from Nashville for defenseman Christoffer Sedoff and a 2028 third round pick, and forward Nic Dowd from the Washington Capitals for goaltender Jesper Vikman, a 2027 third round pick, a 2029 second round pick.

Vegas didn’t limit themselves to roster makeovers this season. On March 29, head coach Bruce Cassidy was relieved of his head coaching duties, replacing him with John Tortorella in an interim capacity. Vegas marks the seventh stop for the two-time Jack Adams and former Stanley Cup-winning coach. The team responded with a four game winning streak to kick off the Tortorella era, which came to an end this past Thursday in a 4-3 shootout decision against the Seattle Kraken. Tortorella has yet to lose in regulation in his short time behind the Vegas bench, and a win tonight against Colorado could make things interesting in the chase for first place in the Pacific. The Edmonton Oilers, who currently lead the division, face the Los Angeles Kings this afternoon. By the time the puck drops in Denver, Vegas will know whether if they’re in a position to overtake Edmonton for the top spot, or if they’re still chasing them down. As of this writing, neither team has clinched a playoff spot, but the outcomes of both games could change that.

Eichel leads all Vegas skaters in points (83) and assists (58) while Mitch Marner ranks second in both categories (78 points and 55 assists, respectively). Pavel Dorofeyev leads all Vegas forwards in goals (35), while Theodore leads all Vegas defenders in goals (9), assists (29), and points (38).

This is the final road game of the season for Vegas, as they wrap up a four game road trip. Hart, who played the first three games of the road trip since (his first action since January 8), may return to the crease this evening. Hill was the goaltender of record in the loss this past Thursday in Seattle.

Vegas finishes out the regular season with a brief two game home stand against the Winnipeg Jets on April 13, and close out the regular season against Seattle on April 15.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – Mitch Marner – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad – Tomáš Hertl – Colton Sissons
Cole Smith – Nic Dowd – Keegan Kolesar

Defense:
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Jérémy Lauzon – Ben Hutton

Between the Pipes:
Carter Hart
Adin Hill