Rapid Recap: Golden Knights 6, Avalanche 3 (Game 6)

The Colorado Avalanche's season came to an end with a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday. Vegas won the Round 2, best-of-seven series 4-2.
Devon Toews scored the first goal of the game just 23 seconds after puck drop, but Nick Holden and William Karlsson tallied later in the period to give Vegas a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
The teams' alternated goals in the second period, with Mikko Rantanen finding the back of the net on the power play before Keegan Kolesar regained the lead for the Knights. Nathan MacKinnon assisted on Colorado's first two goals. Andre Burakovsky tied the game again a little over two minutes later, but Alex Pietrangelo gave the lead back to Vegas in the final minute of the frame.

William Carrier scored in the third period to extend the Golden Knights' lead to 5-3 before Max Pacioretty tallied into an empty net. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves.
THE GOALS
1st Period
0:23 COL (1-0) - Nathan MacKinnon passed the puck to Devon Toews on the rush, and Toews scored glove-side.
1:15 VGK (1-1) - Nick Holden's shot from the point went five-hole.
15:06 VGK (2-1) - William Karlsson one-timed a pass from Alec Martinez from the right circle.
2nd Period
3:47 COL (2-2) - PPG, Mikko Rantanen took a pass from Nathan MacKinnon and skated the puck through the slot, and his shot from the top of the left circle hit twine.
14:27 VGK (3-2) - Keegan Kolesar deflected the puck into the cage after a faceoff.
16:52 COL (3-3) - Andre Burakovsky shot far-side through a defender on a rush up ice to tie the game.
19:42 VGK (3-4) - Alex Pietrangelo scored from the bottom of the right circle after the puck caromed off the end boards.
3rd Period
11:46 VGK (3-5) - William Carrier deflected the puck into the net at the top of the crease.
16:50 VGK (3-6) - ENG, Max Pacioretty scored into an empty net.
Final: Golden Knights - 6 | Avalanche - 3

3 STARS

Selected by AT&T Sports Net

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 1
Vegas: 0 for 1

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 17 of the 22 shots he faced.
Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves on 33 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon, who was skating in his 50th postseason contest, finished with two assists and now has 69 points (28 goals, 41 assists) in his playoff career.
His totals through 50 playoff games are the most among active players, besting fellow Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby (24 goals, 42 assists, 66 points) who previously held the mark. In fact, MacKinnon's 69 points tie Mike Bossy for the fifth-most all time, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (104 points), Mario Lemieux (101 points), Jari Kurri (71 points) and Joe Sakic (70 points).

NOTEBOOK

Devon Toews opened the scoring for Colorado 23 seconds into Game 6, the fastest goal by an Avalanche/Nordiques player from the start of a potential elimination game... Andre Burakovsky scored, and in 14 career potential elimination games he now has 14 points (10 goals, four assists). The only active player with more markers in those situations is Alex Ovechkin (13 goals)… Mikko Rantanen scored on the power play and now has eight points (four goals, four assists) in eight career potential elimination games. It ties Adam Foote for the seventh-most points in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history in such contests… Colorado's 12 man-advantage goals trailed only the Tampa Bay Lightning's 15 for the most this postseason through two rounds… The Colorado/Quebec franchise is now 14-18 all-time in Game 6s of best-of-seven series... The Avalanche is now 23-24 in contests when facing elimination.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche utilized the same roster as it did in Tuesday's Game 5, as Nazem Kadri served the eighth and final contest of his suspension. Colorado began the outing with the same forward combinations and defensive pairings as it used in its previous matchup.

INJURY UPDATE

• Matt Calvert (upper body): Missed the end of the season after having surgery; last played on March 23 at Arizona.
• Pavel Francouz (lower body): Expected to return fully healthy next season after having surgery earlier this year; hurt during practice on Jan. 18.
• Erik Johnson (upper body): Was skated with the group in Denver and had been progressing; last played on Jan. 30 at Minnesota.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche's season has come to an end.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
20 Brandon Saad - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 37 J.T. Compher - 13 Valeri Nichuhskin
25 Logan O'Connor - 17 Tyson Jost - 95 Andre Burakovsky
18 Alex Newhook - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 72 Joonas Donskoi
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 27 Ryan Graves
24 Patrik Nemeth - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
40 Devan Dubnyk