DENVER (Interstat) — The Vegas Golden Knights opened the Western Conference playoff series with a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night at Ball Arena, seizing a 1-0 series lead in front of 18,109 fans.

Vegas, which finished the regular season with a 48-47 record, struck twice in the second period and twice more in the third. Colorado, the 63-29 regular-season champion, answered with two goals in the final frame but could not complete the comeback.

Defenseman Dylan Coghlan opened the scoring for Vegas at 24:29 of the second period, wristing a shot past Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood off assists from Brandon Saad and Colton Sissons. The goal came during a stretch of sustained pressure from the Golden Knights, who had controlled much of the middle frame.

Vegas extended its lead at 30:02 of the second when Pavel Dorofeyev converted a wrist shot, with Mitchell Marner and Tomas Hertl picking up the assists. The Golden Knights took a 2-0 advantage into the second intermission.

Colorado pressed early in the third period but could not beat Vegas goaltender Carter Hart until Valeri Nichushkin broke through at 15:53. Nichushkin’s between-the-legs shot, assisted by Ross Colton, cut the deficit to 2-1 and energized the home crowd.

The Avalanche continued to push, but Vegas answered quickly. At 3:34 of the third, Brett Howden scored on a backhand shot with help from Ben Hutton, restoring the two-goal lead.

Colorado made it 3-2 at 51:39 when Gabriel Landeskog scored a wrist shot, with Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews drawing assists. The Avalanche pulled Wedgewood for an extra attacker in the final minutes, but Vegas sealed the win when Nic Dowd scored an empty-net wrist shot at 57:15, assisted by Jack Eichel.

Dowd was the game’s top performer, recording one goal on one shot and two hits. Howden added one goal on four shots and a hit. For Colorado, Nichushkin scored one goal on three shots. Wedgewood finished with 24 saves on 27 shots, taking the loss.

Eichel contributed an assist, three shots and a hit. Hertl had an assist and a shot. Marner had an assist and two shots. Shea Theodore recorded five shots, two penalty minutes and seven hits for Vegas.

The game featured several key early sequences. In the first period, MacKinnon won a faceoff against Eichel at the one-second mark, but neither team scored in the opening 20 minutes. Colorado’s Brent Burns was called for hooking at 9:02 of the first, and Vegas’ Ivan Barbashev was whistled for holding at 19:09. The Golden Knights killed both penalties.

In the second period, Colorado’s Ross Colton took a roughing penalty at 28:16, and Vegas’ Ben Hutton was called for tripping at 38:24. The Avalanche failed to convert on either power play. Shea Theodore was penalized for high-sticking at 48:52 of the third, but Colorado could not capitalize.

The game stayed tight throughout, with Wedgewood making several key saves early. He stopped a wrist shot from Dorofeyev at 15 seconds of the first, turned aside a Theodore wrist shot at 12:02 and denied a Howden tip-in at 16:35. Hart also made important stops, including a save on a MacKinnon wrist shot at 2:33 of the first and another on a Landeskog wrist shot at 20:25 of the second.

Vegas outshot Colorado 27-26. The Golden Knights’ penalty kill went 3 for 3, while Colorado’s went 1 for 1.

The win was the second consecutive road victory for Vegas in the head-to-head series. The Golden Knights beat the Avalanche 3-2 in overtime on April 11 in Denver. Colorado had won the previous two meetings, including a 6-5 shootout win in Las Vegas on Dec. 27, 2025, and a 4-2 decision on Oct. 31, 2025, also in Las Vegas.

Colorado had advanced to the playoff round after defeating Minnesota in five games. Vegas eliminated Anaheim in four games in the opening round.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday in Denver. The series then shifts to Las Vegas for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Colorado 7, Vegas 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Colorado a 67.60 percent probability to win. Colorado was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 6 went under the over-under line of 5.5.