Golden Knights Learn Their Fate Thursday: VGK Finish Second In West Division, Play Nemesis Minnesota In Playoffs’ First Round; VGK/Wild Game 1 Is Noon Sunday In Vegas

May 13, 2021May 14, 2021 Alan Snel

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

Well, Vegas Golden Knights fans had a fun first 20 minutes Thursday evening when the LA Kings led the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0, after one period in Denver.

But then the Avalanche buried the Kings with five unanswered goals in period two en route to a convincing 5-1 win that clinched the West Division title for Colorado and sent the Golden Knights into a second-place division finish and a first-round playoff match-up with VGK nemesis Minnesota Wild. Robin Lehner, the Knights goalie, put things in perspective with this tweet:

The Wild won five of eight games against the Golden Knights during this truncated 56-game pandemic season and has historically give the Knights all kinds of trouble through the Vegas franchise’s four years.

So buckle up Las Vegas because Game 1 of Vegas vs Minnesota starts Sunday at 12 Noon PT here at T-Mobile Arena.

With tonight’s win. the Colorado Avalanche reached 82 points, just like Vegas did. But the Avs held the tiebreaker, which meant Colorado plays fourth-place St. Louis, while the Knights get their match-up with the Wild. Colorado had the best record in the NHL, which explained, “Colorado finished as the top seed by virtue of the regulation wins tiebreaker (COL: 35, VGK: 30).”