And then there were two. 

On Wednesday night, the Vegas Golden Knights will face off against the Colorado Avalanche in a heavy weight bout between the Western Conference's 2 division winners.

The Golden Knights are led by last off-season's prize acquisition Mitch Marner, whose 18 points (7 Goals, 11 Assists) currently lead all players this postseason.  Center Jack Eichel is not far behind him with 15 (1 G, 14 A), while Shea Theodore has finally been playing like the defenseman we all thought we had when we reached for him last draft day, leading the Vegas blue line with 9 points (4 G, 5 A) and providing category coverage to the tune of 25 shots and 33 blocks.  The Golden Knights, also, boast the postseason's top 2 goal scorers in Pavel Dorofeyev (9) and Brett Howden (8).  Getting contributions like that from secondary scorers is exactly why Vegas is one of the last two teams standing out west. 

The Avalanche, meanwhile, are led by (who else?) Nathan Mackinnon and his 13 playoff points (7 G, 6 A).  Martin Necas has carried his strong fantasy season over to the postseason and is currently second on the Avs in scoring with 11 points (1 G, 10 A).  Devon Toews leads the Colorado blue line with 8 points (2 G, 6 A), while Cale Makar tries to shrug off a cold streak.  A slump for Cale Makar, by the way, still has him up to 5 points in 9 games and tied for the postseason lead in goals scored by a defenseman (4).  

In net, it's been Carter Hart making every playoff start for the Tort's led Golden Knights (8-4, 2.29 GAA, .917 SV%, 75% Quality Starts) and he's riding a hot streak that has included 6 QS in his last 7 games (5 wins).  Perhaps no other goalie has improved their 2026-27 fantasy outlook more than Hart has with the Golden Knights these playoffs. 

For the Avs its been whoever holds the hot hand and for the majority of this postseason that has been Scott Wedgewood.  The 33-year-old journeyman has looked comfortable and at home between the pipes, posting a 2.21 GAA with a .912 SV% in 8 games (7 wins).  He backstopped a 4 goal Avalanche rally after replacing teammate Mackenzie Blackwood at the start of the second period in Game 5 of their second-round tilt with the Wild.  Each goalie got the hook one time in the 5-game series against Minnesota.

—

Now for the teams whose dreams weren't to be:

**Anaheim Ducks**  

After 7 straight seasons without a playoff berth, losing in the 2nd round to the most recent Western Conference team to hoist the Stanley Cup (Vegas, 2023) has to be considered a skip and a leap forward for this franchise and their young core.  Winning comes from experience and experience comes from losing, so this all may just be part of building a contender in California.  In the end, it was the defensive poise of the Golden Knights that would disenchant the Ducks' Cinderella season.  They were held to 2 goals or fewer in 4 of the 6 games in the series, despite outshooting Vegas in every game. 

Through 12 games, 20 year old Beckett Sennecke notched 5 goals, 21 year old Leo Carlsson tallied 4 markers on a team high 41 shots, 22 year old Cutter Gauthier led Anaheim with 12 points (8 on the power play) while adding 36 hits and 39 shots, and the 25 year old Jackson LaCombe finished up with 10 points after leading the team with 9 points in the first round.

Lukas Dostal, also 25 years of age, showed that he was capable of making the saves when his team needed them the most, an essential quality of any winning goalie.  The shutouts, the above .900 save percentages, and the quality starts will have to wait a few years, however, he finished this campaign with a .869 SV%, 3.54 GAA, and just 4 QS in 12 playoff games.

**Minnesota Wild**

The Wild had a tough draw facing Dallas and then Colorado, who finished second and first in the Western Conference after 82 games, respectively, and while they were able to shoot down the Stars in the first round, the Avalanche would inevitably overwhelm them in round 2, ending their season short of lofty expectations.  Minnesota's inability to hold a lead would end up bringing about their doom.  They scored the first goal in games 3-5, but were only able to win 1 of those games.  Worst of all was the 3-goal lead they brought to the second period of game 5 that would inevitably get squandered for a 4-3 loss and season ending collapse. 

The Wild management took some big swings this year (Quinn Hughes trade, Kaprizov resigning), so their exodus here will sting, but to be fair Hughes and Kaprizov would end up sharing the team lead with 15 playoff points apiece, proving their worth to the organization in light of their high costs of doing business.  25-year-old Matt Boldy led the Wild with 7 goals and his 48 shots which also led all players this postseason, while 23 year old Brock Faber took his scoring touch to the next level, posting 10 points in 11 games, adding 22 blocks and finishing at +11.

Neither Wallstedt or Gustavsson could hold off the onslaught of the Avalanche.  The series would drop Wallstedt's postseason metrics down from a .924 SV% and 2.05 GAA against the Stars to a .909 SV% and 2.77 GAA.  The Gus Bus took the ice for his one and only start of the playoffs in game 2 of this series, but surrendered 4 goals on 22 shots faced.  Despite the Wild coaching staff leaning heavily on 23-year-old Jesper Wallstedt, expect this crease to remain a timeshare in the 2026-27 fantasy hockey season, unless one of them gets traded.  

—

With their playoff successes front and center, it may have gone overlooked that the Vegas Golden Knights were recently penalized a 2nd round draft pick for "flagrant" media regulations violations.  Many Hall of Fame players have been drafted in the 2nd round and this forfeiture only further depletes what was already a barren draft cupboard in Vegas.  Still, if they host a Stanley Cup parade then this will just be chalked up as swagger. 

—

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was relieved of duties last week after the Oilers season skidded out in the first round, following back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Expectations are always high when you have world-class talents like McDavid and Draisaitl in the prime of their hall of fame careers and, after an "average" season and someone had to take the fall.  McDavid – who put Edmonton brass on notice back in October when he resigned at a healthy discount, for only 2 more years – may be wondering if the problem runs further up the ladder if he ends up having to watch Carter Hart and John Tortorella lead Vegas to further playoff riches.

That's all for this week, thanks for reading!  My name is Garrett Finlay and I was just filling in for your main man Lucas Main, who will be back next week to keep you updated with all things Wild West. 

You can find more of my writing over on Goalie Post and you can follow me on X @garrett_fi51284 and on Bluesky @garrettfinlay.bsky.social where I am often talking goalies and fantasy hockey.