<p>Colorado had previously gone 45-0-0 this season when leading after the second period - Vegas handed them their first loss with three unanswered goals in the third period. </p><p>It's the fourth time this postseason that the Knights rallied from behind in the third period to win. </p><p>Vegas goaltender Carter Hart continued to be a brick wall in net, recording 29 saves against the Avs. The three goals the Avs have scored in Game 1 and Game 2 this series are the fewest they've scored in a two-game span all postseason. </p><p>This also marks the first time the Avs have lost two games in a series this postseason. The last time the Golden Knights went up 2-0 to start a series was against the Dallas Stars in 2023 - the same year they went on to win the Stanley Cup. </p>

Recap & Highlights

<p>Despite both teams combining for 23 shots on goal in the first period (VGK - 12, COL -11), only one team managed to find the net before intermission. </p><p>Mitch Marner, who looked to stay red-hot, almost got one by Scott Wedgewood to put the Knights up, but Wedgewood would make sure the star would be denied. And, in turn, the Avs would retaliate.</p><p><strong>Ross Colton scored his second goal of the playoffs, with assists from Brent Burns (4) and Nazem Kadri (5), to put the Avs up 1-0. </strong></p><p>Colorado were 5-0 heading into this game when being the team that scores first.</p><p>After no penalties at all in the first period, there were three alone in the first two minutes of the second, two alone on Colorado's Martin Necas. </p><p>But the Knights couldn't capitalize on the opportunity after Jack Eichel was called for interference, leaving a 4-on-4 situation where neither team took advantage of the extra space on the ice.</p><p>The Knights would go 0-for-3 on the power play in the second, Colorado 0-for-1, as neither team found the net in the second. </p><p>Vegas only put up four shots on goal, entering the third with 16 total compared to Colorado's 20. But the Knights would quickly turn the tables halfway into the third. </p><p><strong>Eichel finally put Vegas on the board to tie things up 1-1 with his second of the playoffs. </strong></p><p>It marked Eichel's 60th playoff point in 54 games as he became the third fastest U.S.-born player to reach the mark, sitting behind Kevin Stevens (46 GP) and Brian Leetch (49 GP).</p><p>And before anyone could blink, the Knights would score once more on back-to-back shots on goal. </p><p><strong>This time around, it was Ivan Barbashev with his fourth goal of the playoffs to put the Knights up 2-1 just two minutes later. </strong></p><p>Barbashev recorded an assist on Eichel's goal, while Eichel recorded one on Barbashev's for his 16th assist. Meanwhile, Pavel Dorofeyev (4) assisted on both goals.</p><p><strong>Barbashev would score once more for his fifth this postseason, this time on the empty net to make it a 3-1 game en route to a Game 2 victory as the Avs felt the effect of a missing Cale Makar for the second-straight game.</strong></p><p>The stat sheet wouldn't matter in the end for Vegas, who were outshot 30-25 and lost 57% of the face-offs. Meanwhile, both teams combined for 0-for-6 on the power play.</p><p>Now, the series heads back to Vegas as they're now two more wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.</p>