Avalanche, Golden Knights set West final

The NHL’s final four is set, and the two conference finals are now split between a regular-season heavyweight path and a surprise run from Montreal. The league on May 21 published the conference finals schedule showing the Colorado Avalanche against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final and the Carolina Hurricanes against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference final. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) Colorado and Carolina arrived with the strongest records of the four teams still alive. NHL.com said the Avalanche finished first in the NHL during the regular season and went 8-1 through the first two rounds, while Carolina entered the round at 8-0. (nhl.com) The bracket also already moved once before the full schedule page posted. NHL.com’s daily schedule page showed Vegas leading Colorado 1-0 in the Western final after Game 1, with Game 2 set for May 22 in Denver. ### How did Colorado and Vegas get here? Colorado reached the Western final by sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1 in the second, according to NHL.com. (nhl.com) The Avalanche are in the conference final for the first time since 2022, when they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Vegas came through a tougher route. The NHL’s playoff coverage page listed the Golden Knights as the team that won Game 1 of the Western final and noted they had advanced to face Colorado after the second round. (nhl.com) ### Why was Game 1 in the West already a health story? (nhl.com) NHL.com said defenseman Cale Makar would miss Game 1 and was day to day entering the series. The same preview identified Makar and center Nathan MacKinnon as Colorado’s two marquee players. The NHL playoff page later described Colorado as “out of sorts without Makar” in the Game 1 loss to Vegas. That left the Avalanche chasing the series before the second game at home. (nhl.com) ### What makes Carolina’s run different? Carolina entered the Eastern final without a playoff loss. CBS Sports’ team page showed the Hurricanes sweeping Ottawa in the first round and Philadelphia in the second, giving them an 8-0 postseason record before opening against Montreal. (nhl.com) NHL.com said Carolina and Colorado were the top two regular-season teams and had combined to go 16-1 entering the conference finals, the best record for two teams entering that round in league history. (nhl.com) ### How did Montreal break through to the East final? Montreal arrived after a longer road. (nhl.com) NHL.com’s playoff page showed the Canadiens beating Buffalo 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 on May 18 to clinch their place in the Eastern final. That result set up a matchup in which Montreal carries recent game mileage and Carolina carries rest. CBS Sports listed Game 1 for May 21 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. (cbssports.com) ### What is the schedule from here? The NHL’s conference finals schedule lists Game 1 of Canadiens-Hurricanes for May 21 at 8 p.m. ET and Game 2 for May 23. The same league schedule page lists Game 2 of Golden Knights-Avalanche for May 22 at 8 p.m. (nhl.com) EDT, followed by Game 3 in Las Vegas on May 24 and Game 4 on May 26. The next two games on the calendar are Montreal at Carolina on May 21 and Vegas at Colorado on May 22, according to NHL.com’s playoff schedule pages. (nhl.com) (nhl.com) (cbssports.com)