Hart’s heroics clinch playoffs for Golden Knights in Colorado

While the Denver Pioneers secured their dynasty with a national championship win in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights would earn a major victory of their own in the Mile High City.

On Saturday, the Golden Knights completed what has been a pivotal final road trip of the season with a defining 3-2 overtime victory over the President’s Trophy winning Colorado Avalanche.

Special teams would dominate the first period for both teams. After a successful penalty kill, the Avalanche would get the scoring started after a Devon Toews shot from the point squeezed past Carter Hart to keep the Colorado power play hot.

After the Golden Knights responded with a successful kill of their own, their power play would get the game back even. Mark Stone would get all alone in the slot and deflect a puck from midair back to his stick. He would then beat Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from his backhand to tie the game at a goal apiece.

Hart would bounce back from the earlier goal to keep the game tied in the first period, stopping high-danger chances from Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin.

The second period would see a much more free-flowing game, and Vegas would take advantage early. Ivan Barbashev would win a puck battle behind the net and send it off to Pavel Dorofeyev, who beat Blackwood from the dot with a one-timer in the opposite corner.

The goal would be a milestone for Dorofeyev, who beat last season’s career high with his 36th goal on the season.

Colorado would tie it back up on a seeing-eye goal that saw Nick Blankenburg’s long-range chance deflect off the post and off of Hart’s back into the net.

The third period saw the teams unable to get the game-winning goal, with Hart and Blackwood making impressive saves in the final few minutes to force overtime.

After the Avalanche missed a two-on-one rush early in overtime, Jack Eichel would get an odd-man rush going the other way. His decision to shoot paid off, beating Blackwood to secure the victory.

With seven of eight points on the road trip, the Golden Knights not only have sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, but have now officially punched their ticket into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons.

The final two games at T-Mobile Arena will now be to decide where the Golden Knights are seeded, starting with the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.