Vegas Steals Game 1. The Avs Without Makar Look Vulnerable.
Carter Hart 36 saves. Vegas wins 4-2. Colorado outshot 5-on-5 but couldn't break through without Cale Makar.
Vegas keeps doing the thing where they win Game 1 of playoff series and you just sort of nod and accept it. That's eight Game 1 wins in their last nine series. Pencil it in.
The 4-2 win over Colorado on Wednesday felt different though, because of who wasn't on the ice for the Avalanche.
Cale Makar — the best defenseman in the world — was sidelined. And the Avs spent two periods trying to figure out who they were without him.
How It Played Out
Vegas built a 3-0 lead early in the third period before Colorado clawed back. The Knights' scoring went four deep:
- Dylan Coghlan — first postseason goal of his career
- Pavel Dorofeyev
- Brett Howden
- Nic Dowd — empty-netter to seal it
The Avs' rally came from Gabriel Landeskog's power-play goal with 2:21 left, cutting it to 3-2, and the comeback never quite materialized.
Carter Hart Was the Story
If you want one stat from Game 1, here it is: Carter Hart made 36 saves. He was perfect through two periods. He stopped Nazem Kadri in tight in the first period on what should have been the equalizer. He turned away wave after wave of Colorado pressure in 5-on-5 minutes where the Avs controlled 56.7% of the play.
This is exactly the kind of game where a goalie steals it. Colorado dictated the run of play. Vegas dictated the scoreboard. The reason was Hart standing on his head from the opening whistle.
The Makar Question
The article references Colorado feeling "a trickle-down effect" with Makar sidelined. Anyone who watches the Avs knows what that means. He's the offensive engine on the back end, the puck-mover who turns defensive zone retrievals into offensive zone setups in three seconds. Without him:
- Colorado's neutral zone speed slows down
- Their power play loses its quarterback
- Their forecheck depends on tighter passing from defensemen who don't usually carry that load
The Avs are deep enough to make up some of that. Not all of it. And if Makar's absence extends, this series flips fast.
The Vegas Pattern
Vegas keeps showing up in May with the same blueprint: top-tier goaltending, balanced scoring across four lines, and a roster that plays simple, structured hockey when the games matter. Marner has been their leading scorer. Hart has been their save bank. Howden and Dowd add the third-and-fourth-line goals that win playoff games when the stars are getting smothered.
It's not a glamorous formula. It's a working formula.
The Bottom Line
Vegas leads the series 1-0 and gets to play with house money the rest of the way. If Makar comes back at full health, this series gets very interesting very fast. If he doesn't, Vegas is suddenly the team to beat in the Western Conference. Game 2 should tell us a lot — both about Colorado's depth and about whether Hart can keep doing this for another six wins.