Golden Knights-Avalanche Game 6 recap

By Ben Gotz

Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) is upended between Golden Knights defenseman ... — Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) is upended between Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) and Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez (23) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, June 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Series recap

Knights win 4-2

Game 1 — Avalanche 7, Knights 1

Game 2 — Avalanche 3, Knights 2 (OT)

Game 3 — Knights 3, Avalanche 2

Game 4 — Knights 5, Avalanche 1

Game 5 — Knights 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)

Game 6 — Knights 6, Avalanche 3

RJ’s three stars

3. Knights right wing Keegan Kolesar/left wing William Carrier — The two fourth-liners share a star after each scored a crucial goal. It was Kolesar’s first NHL playoff goal.

3. Knights left wing Max Pacioretty — He recorded an assist in the second period, then scored his fourth goal of the playoffs into an empty net. He has at least a point in all seven of his postseason games.

1. Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo — He showed why his contract is worth $61.6 million. He had his first multipoint playoff game with the Knights and scored his first goal of the postseason. It only happened to be the game-winner.

Key play

Pietrangelo’s go-ahead goal with 17.2 seconds left in the second period.

It was a play not a lot of NHL defensemen would have made. Pietrangelo passed the puck to right wing Alex Tuch near the top of the offensive zone. But rather than retreating to the blue line, he got even deeper.

That put him in a perfect position when Tuch’s turnaround shot hit the end boards and bounced to the bottom of the right circle. Pietrangelo got to the puck first and elevated it quickly past Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer to give the Knights a 4-3 lead.

Key stat

12 — The number of Knights skaters who recorded at least a point.

That includes five of the team’s six defensemen and two of the members of the fourth line. It notably does not include captain Mark Stone, first-line center Chandler Stephenson and left wing Jonathan Marchessault.

The Knights are advancing because they got contributions from everybody.

Knights quotable

“They got a Vezina candidate. A Norris candidate. An MVP candidate. That’s a good team that we just eliminated. It was awesome to celebrate that one with our fans.” — Stone.

Avs quotable

“You’re never going to be satisfied, you’re never going to be happy until you win that final game of the season. It sucks. It stinks.” — Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.