Avalanche HC Says Team Ran 'Into a Buzz Saw' in Golden Knights' Sweep to Reach Stanley Cup Final

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar gave all credit to the Vegas Golden Knights after getting swept out of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night.

Speaking to reporters after the Avs fell 2-1 to the Golden Knights in Game 4 and saw their season come to an end, Bednar said, "We run into a buzz saw in Vegas. ... It's a really good hockey team, and they won. They deserve the credit, you know. It's not a knock on our guys. I just think we played hard and didn't find enough solutions to what they were doing in order to win the series."

Bednar added, "Humility is certainly a word you use for it. I think that's sports in general. I think you're going to run into that a lot on any given day on any given year, and especially in the playoffs, right? So yeah, losing sucks, and losing four straight is worse."

Avalanche-Golden Knights Highlights

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During the regular season, the Avalanche were the best team in the NHL, winning the Presidents' Trophy with a league-high 121 points.

Colorado entered the playoffs as the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup as a result, and it breezed into the WCF by sweeping the Los Angeles Kings and beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1.

By comparison, the Golden Knights had just 95 points during the regular season, but they are a battle-tested team when it comes to playoff hockey, as they have reached the playoffs in four consecutive seasons and eight out of nine seasons in the history of the franchise.

Vegas also won the Stanley Cup in 2023, and several players from that squad are still on this year's team, including Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore and William Karlsson, among others.

On top of that, the Golden Knights added an elite forward in free agency during the offseason in Mitch Marner, and he has thrived to the tune of 21 points in 16 playoff games.

While the Avalanche are stacked with talent in their own right, superstar defenseman Cale Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference Finals due to injury, and it is fair to wonder how healthy he was when he returned to play in Games 3 and 4.

Makar did not record a point in the series, and he finished the playoffs with an uncharacteristic five points in 11 games after registering 79 points in 75 regular-season contests.

After losing the first two games, the Avalanche had a chance to make it a series in Game 3 and led 3-0 in the first period, but the Golden Knights reeled off five consecutive goals to win.

Blowing that lead may have demoralized the Avs, and it felt like a matter of when rather than if the Golden Knights would end their season.