Golden Knights punch ticket to Stanley Cup Final with shocking sweep of Avalanche

In a significant move, the Vegas Golden Knights officially headed for the Stanley Cup Final for the third time with a dominant 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Notably, Cole Smith also scored, adding that Carter Hart made 20 saves for the Golden Knights. He remarkably finished a four-game sweep pull ahead.

“It was probably one of our better games from start to finish,” Smith said. “Other games in the series we’ve had little lulls where they’ve taken over, and tonight we stuck with it for pretty much the whole game. It was a really good game for us.”

“Our ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup,” Stone said. “We still have four more wins that we want to accomplish. Happy with where we are, and we put ourselves in a spot to ultimately compete for it.”

Mackenzie Blackwood tallied 24 saves in his initial start of the series for Colorado.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar: “Losing sucks. Losing four straight is worse. The closer you get to accomplishing (lofty goals), the more losing can swipe it all away in an instant. It’s hard to deal with. I have a lot of respect for our guys and the season they had.”

“I was able to get behind, but the lane wasn’t there,” Stone said. Landeskog redirected Martin Necas’ shot from the point down off the ice and over the blocker of Hart.