A Western Conference Final Deep Dive

Avs and Knights battle for best in the West

Even aging, out-of-shape middle-aged men need breaks between series and that’s apparently what Dater and I have done since the Avalanche dispatched the Wild in five games last week, advancing to the Western Conference Final.

Colorado waited a few days to learn the opponent and the schedule, but now turns its focus to Vegas with a spot in the Stanley Cup Final on the line. On the other side of the bracket, Montreal moved on to play well-rested Carolina in the eastern final thanks a thrilling Game 7 win in Buffalo last night with 2022 Stanley Cup Champion Alex Newhook scoring the OT winner.

Let’s take a look at how the Avs and Golden Knights match up in a series that kicks off Wednesday night in Denver.

Regular Season Records

Colorado: 55-16-11 (121 points), 1st in NHL Central Division, 1st in the NHL
Vegas: 39-26-17 (95 points), 1st in NHL Pacific Division, 12th in the NHL

Head-to-Head in 2025-26

10.31 | 4-2 W at Vegas
12.27 | 6-5 SOW at Vegas
4.11 | 3-2 OTL at Colorado

The Schedule

Game 1 in Denver — 5.20 at 6 p.m. MT
Game 2 in Denver — 5.22 at 6 p.m. MT
Game 3 in Las Vegas — 5.24 at 6 p.m. MT
Game 4 in Las Vegas — 5.26 at 7 p.m. MT
Game 5 in Denver — 5.28 at 6 p.m. MT
Game 6 in Las Vegas — 5.30 at 6 p.m. MT
Game 7 in Denver — 6.1 at 6 p.m. MT

Previous Playoff Match-Ups

These two teams have met in the postseason twice before: 2021 and… 2020. That’s right, the Bubble. I guess it’s considered a postseason game by NHL record-keeping standards, but the 2020 matchup was a single round-robin game before the top seeds began actual series play. Vegas won that game, 4-3, in overtime on an Alex Tuch goal. Also scoring that afternoon for the Golden Knights in Edmonton was Avalanche legend Nicolas Roy.