Avalanche shrug off 2021 playoff loss to Golden Knights as they meet in the Western Conference final

DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog doesn't need any extra incentive. Being in the Western Conference Final is more than enough for the Colorado Avalanche captain.

If he did, though, memories of the second-round loss to Vegas in 2021 would be a powerful motivator. The Avalanche led that series 2-0 — and were up in the third period of Game 3 — before losing four straight.

It stung then. But that breakdown fueled the Avalanche, too, as they captured the Stanley Cup title the following season. And then the Golden Knights won the Cup the season after that.

“Obviously, it’s the same teams but a lot of turnover,” Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri said ahead of a series that gets under way Wednesday night in Denver. “Obviously, we're hoping for a different outcome this time.”

Some familiar names remain from the '21 series that matched the speedy Avalanche against the physical Golden Knights — an apt description of this upcoming series, too.

For Colorado, the lineup back then included Landeskog, Kadri, Cale Makar, Valeri Nichushkin, Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon, with coach Jared Bednar on the bench.

For Vegas, there were such players as captain Mark Stone, William Karlsson, Brayden McNabb, Keegan Kolesar, Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith. Avalanche nemesis Pete DeBoer was coaching then for Vegas, now it's John Tortorella.

Nicolas Roy has switched sides, with Vegas then and Colorado now. Same, in reverse, for Vegas forward Brandon Saad.

“We feel like we have swagger, believe in each other,” Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “It should be a fun test.”

The Golden Knights have caught fire since Tortorella took over when Bruce Cassidy was let go. The team went 7-0-1 down the stretch — including a 3-2 overtime win over Colorado on April 11 — and beat playoff upstarts Utah and Anaheim to advance.

Much like they did with Vegas after the 2021 series, the Avalanche are hoping to parlay the sting of a playoff loss to Mikko Rantanen and the Dallas Stars last season into a positive.

“The buy-in from our guys in both 2022 and this year, it’s at a different level,” said Bednar, whose Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche are 8-1 so far in the postseason. “Because they know what the stakes are.”

The Avalanche have been instilled as a plus-135 to capture the Cup, while the Golden Knights are plus-575.

“It doesn’t matter in this room," McNabb said of being an underdog. “They’re a good team. We know that. We respect them.”

Familiar territory

The Golden Knights are making their fifth trip to the conference final since their first season in 2017-18. No team in that span has been to more.

“Your approach should always be the same, so I don’t really think a whole lot changes,” center Jack Eichel said. “You want to continue to elevate your game both individually and as a team the further you go.”

Trading places

Roy was dealt by Vegas last summer to Toronto for Mitch Marner. Roy wound up with Colorado in another trade and will be facing the team he helped to the 2023 Stanley Cup title.

“They have a really good lineup. They have depth,” Roy said. “We do as well. So looking forward to it.”

Four months ago, Kadri and Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson were teammates in Calgary. Andersson was traded in January and Kadri in March.

“Pretty crazy,” Kadri said. “It worked out for both of us.”

MacKinnon & Co.

MacKinnon leads the Avalanche this postseason with 13 points (seven goals, six assists). He's got plenty of help, though, as 17 different players have notched a goal.

“That doesn’t just happen,” Landeskog said. “That’s everybody pulling their weight and everybody doing the best they can to help the team out.”

Dorofeyev heats up late

Both playoff series followed the same kind of pattern for Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev. He went scoreless in the first three games of the opening-round series against Utah before coming through with a goal in Game 4 and a hat trick in Game 5.

Then Dorofeyev had just two assists in the first three games of the second-round series against Anaheim before totaling five goals over the final three games.

“It seems like he’s beginning to be a high-stakes player, scoring big goals at big times,” Tortorella said.

The goaltenders

Colorado has used a combination of Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood in net. Wedgewood is 7-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average in this playoff run, while Blackwood is 1-0 with a 3.20 GAA.

For the Golden Knights, Carter Hart is 8-4 with a 2.37 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson and AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl