Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
It was a roller-coaster, back-and-forth tussle on ice in Las Vegas after two periods, but in the end Vegas polished off Colorado, 6-3, in Game 6 and closed out the Best-of-7 second round series against the Avalanche.
VGK held on for the final 20 minutes after Colorado gave up a back-breaking goal to VGK defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with a mere 17 seconds left in period two as the Knights led, 4-3, after two periods. It Pietraneglo’s first goal of the postseason for the Knights, while VGK goalie Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his 89th career postseason win, good for fourth place all-time in the NHL.
Take a look at the crowd frenzy when the game ended with the Golden Knights taking four straight from the Colorado Avalanche after losing the first two games in the series.
Vegas moves on to the NHL semifinals with a Final Four date with Montreal. Game 1 is Monday back here at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 6PM Vegas time. It was the third semifinals appearance by the Golden Knights in the franchise’s four-year history. The VGK lost to Washington in the Final in 2018, lost to San Jose in the first round in 2019 and lost to Dallas in the semifinals in the COVID-19 bubble in Edmonton in 2020.
Attendance tonight at a packed T-Mobile Arena was 18,149.
“It changed the series for us getting home for Game 3 to a sold-out rink. I really think the tide changed and we got them involved,” VGK forward Mark Stone said after the game.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the advantage of the full rink in Games 3, 4 and 6. Huge to our group. Honestly, if we don’t have full capacity and the rink rocking like it was in those games, I’m sure we’re playing a Game 7. — Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer
There were tangible pivot points through the series between these two West Division powerhouses, which were tied for the most points in the 56-game pandemic season.
In Game 3, Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty scored 45 seconds apart with five minutes left in the game to rally VGK to a 3-2 win on home ice. The Knights were five minutes away from being down three games to zero.
In Game 5, Alex Tuch and Marchessault scored early in the third period in Denver to erase a 2-0 VGK deficit and Mark Stone scored the game-winner 50 seconds into overtime to give the Knights a 3-2 win over Colorado to set up tonight’s series-clinching win.
And tonight, it was Pietrangelo who scored the go-ahead goal in the final seconds of period two to break a 3-3 tie. It was a period dominated by Colorado, which played with its season hanging in the balance.
After VGK’s Nick Holden and William Karlsson gave the Knights a 2-1 lead after one period, Keegan Kolesar and Pietrangelo scored in period two to give the Golden Knights that 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.
William Carrier and Pacioretty (an empty-netter) scored third period goals and VGK came back to win four straight games after dropping the first two in Denver.
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“Everybody here wants to win. We all share that same passion. It started here day one and it continues to be the same thing,” Pietrangelo said after the game.
Next man up mentality. Everyone’s got a job to do. When it’s your turn, you get it done. — Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar
The Avalanche goal scorers were Devon Toews 23 seconds into the game (countered by two VGK goals in period one), Mikko Rantanen, a power play goal that tied the game at two in period two; and Andre Burakovsky, who tied the game at three in period two before the Pietrangelo late-period goal.
Check out the Final Four schedule:
It was another electric crowd at T-Mobile Arena, where more than 18,000 fans were crammed into the venue.
Game scoring: