Golden Knights hoping special teams, momentum will slow Avalanche in West Final

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights are preparing for their toughest challenge of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, coming in the form of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

This will be the fifth time the Golden Knights will play in the conference final in just their ninth season after defeating the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in previous rounds.

The best-of-7 series begins on Wednesday at Ball Arena (8:00 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Compared to the Mammoth and Ducks, the Avalanche, who won the Presidents' Trophy and are the top seed in the West, are a team with similar levels of playoff experience.

There is also the problem of facing Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon, and Vegas forward Jack Eichel didn't mince words when asked what MacKinnon brings.

"He presents a lot of challenges to our group,” Eichel said. “Obviously, his combination of speed and explosiveness and just how dynamic he makes a lot of plays at top-end speed. Obviously, he's a physical guy with and without the puck."

But while MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar are among the League’s top players in their respective positions, the danger doesn’t stop there. MacKinnon and Makar are just two parts of a dynamic offense.

"They're deep. They have a lot of really good players,” Eichel said. “They present a lot of challenges with the way they play, and the style and some of their personnel."

Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson echoed that sentiment from the defensive side, noting that Colorado won the Presidents' Trophy for a reason.

“They have been a very consistent team all year,” Andersson said. “Great team, we’re facing a lot of challenges.”

One area Golden Knights coach John Tortorella anticipates his team will need to take advantage of is special teams. Colorado's penalty kill has been a liability in the postseason with a 79.3 penalty kill percentage.

To complicate matters for Colorado, the Golden Knights lead all playoff teams with four short-handed goals, and are converting 25.7 percent of their power-play opportunities.

"When you're in the playoffs, special teams are important,” Tortorella said. “It's one of the areas in a series that you do a lot of concentration on how the other team kills, how their power play plays. Because a lot of five-on-five is just instinctive play. You have a good idea of your foundation. But the special teams you really zero in on."

The biggest thing the Golden Knights have going into the series is momentum.

Vegas clinched both of its first two series with dominating showings in Game 6, and Tortorella believes that's not a coincidence.

"I think the team stayed within themselves. They're flatline,” Tortorella said. “They don't get too excited when things are going really well. And they certainly don't lose themselves when things struggle. That's one of the biggest traits of our team. That's why I think you improve as a team when you go through a seven-game series."

The question is whether that confidence is enough to handle the most dynamic player with the deepest team they've faced this postseason.

Eichel's answer was straightforward.

"We're going to need our best against Colorado,” he said.

The Golden Knights know it. Now they have to deliver if they want to arrive at their third Stanley Cup Final in nine years.