Vegas Golden Knights vs Colorado Avalanche

As a Vegas fan let me make one thing very clear, I am very scared of this series. I was actually at the final home game of the season for the Vegas Golden Knights when we lost, and despite only having 15 skaters that night I'm still slightly concerned. Colorado is a very good team and is absolutely on fire.

During the regular season the series was split 4-4-0, however due to Colorado having the tie breaker, despite having a worse regular season record. And worst of all in my opinion this also awarded the Colorado Avalanche the President's Trophy this season. So, let's take a look as to how I think this series will play out.

Home Ice advantage

I would have loved to have home ice advantage. Home ice is going to be a huge advantage, especially for this round since we're approved for 100% occupancy now. However that advantage goes to Colorado for this round. But if round one has taught us one thing. VGK fans are everywhere, just listen to the Minnesota home games and how loud our fans were, especially during the national anthem when we say "Knight". When you hear that coming from the audience, you know that Vegas fans are in the stands where ever that game is currently being played.

Powerplay:

What a shocker, the powerplay is still a gaping flaw for the Knights. In my original post-season prediction I actually did talk about this. How you don't have the advantage while the other team is down a player? I will never understand that. I hope our powerplay will improve especially since we have patches back in the lineup. We're going to need to be flawless this series to advance.

Penalty Kill:

Now we go to the other side of the coin. Vegas has an incredible Penalty Kill. Allowing only 2 powerplay goals the entire series against the Minnesota Wild. The Knights did well on the Penalty Kill. However this was never a question. But once again, how are we better while down a skater than we are with one more skater than our opponent?

Health:

Thankfully Max Pacioretty returned for game 7 last series and was instant offense. However the Vegas Golden Knights only had 1 night of rest in-between series and I know they've very beaten up. Also Ryan Reeves has been in and out of the line up this season with health and Thomas Nosek at the time of publishing this article is still injured. Yikes.

All the meanwhile, while Vegas was busy fighting a very tough 7 game series, the Avalanche were happily resting after their clean sweep. So they'll be healthy, however at the time of publishing this article Nazem Kadri's suspension will of course play a role to limiting the Avalanche's firepower.

Fatigue:

Speaking of Colorado having plenty of rest and Vegas having no rest. That of course doesn't help Vegas's odds of winning. Fleury had to start all 7 games and I know he'll be the starting goalie yet again this entire series. Even though this is just the first round, I wouldn't blame the Knights if they're already tired. Now could this be too much rest for the Avalanche? We'll just have to wait and see.

President's Trophy Curse?:

So yes, had my Knights won I probably wouldn't be bringing this up. If anything I'd be a hypocrite and be talking about how if one team could break the curse, it would be Vegas. Because Vegas reason as THG says. Also why would I bring this up after Colorado's clear sweep in round 1? Well, of course I'm salty. However will the "President's Cup Curse" hold true? For my team's sake I hope so.

Final prediction:

This series will be incredibly tough, no doubt. It will go the full 7 games with at least an overtime or two. Not having home ice advantage will really be a difficult hurdle for Vegas to overcome. Colorado is incredibly dangerous. After everything is all said and done though, I still have Vegas taking this series.

GO KNIGHTS GO!

Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed what you have read today. I have plenty of different articles on many different topics. Feel free to give those other articles a read or two. Also if you'd be so kind, I'd greatly appreciate a heart and if you really feel so inclined tips are always appreciated but by no means required.