Avalanche vs Golden Knights set

The NHL’s final four are set, and the Western Conference final begins on Wednesday, May 21, with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1. ESPN’s playoff bracket page and NHL.com’s conference-final coverage list Colorado-Vegas in the West and the Carolina Hurricanes against the Montreal Canadiens in the East. CBS Sports said Colorado and Vegas meet Wednesday night in Denver in the opener of a best-of-seven series. Colorado and Vegas arrive as two of the league’s recent champions. CBS Sports said Vegas is pursuing its second Stanley Cup in four years, while Colorado is seeking its second title in five years. NHL.com said the Avalanche and Hurricanes entered the round with a combined record that made them the strongest pair of teams, by record, ever to reach the conference finals. ### When do Colorado and Vegas actually play? Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21, at 8 p.m. ET in Colorado, according to NHL.com’s Western Conference final preview. CBS Sports also listed the game for Wednesday night and identified Ball Arena as the site for the opener. ESPN’s playoff hub said its bracket and schedule pages will carry the series through the Stanley Cup Final. NHL.com listed the television window for Game 1 as ESPN in the United States, with Sportsnet, TVA Sports and CBC carrying the game in Canada. ### How did these two teams get here? Vegas reached the Western Conference final after beating the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round and the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the second round, according to NHL.com. Colorado advanced by sweeping the Los Angeles Kings and then beating the Minnesota Wild in five games. ESPN’s bracket page showed Colorado moving through the first two rounds with one loss total. CBS Sports said the Avalanche entered the conference final after an 8-1 start to the playoffs, while Vegas came through a longer path in the West. ### What makes this matchup notable? Vegas and Colorado are the last two Stanley Cup champions from the Western Conference, CBS Sports said in its Game 1 preview. That gives the series a recent-history edge on top of the conference-final stakes. NHL.com said the regular-season series was tight. Colorado went 2-0-1 against Vegas, while the Golden Knights went 1-1-1, according to the league’s series preview. ### What is happening on the other side of the bracket? Carolina and Montreal are the Eastern Conference finalists, according to ESPN and NHL.com. Montreal advanced through Buffalo in seven games, while Carolina reached the round after sweeping its first two series, NHL.com said. NHL.com writers and editors picked Colorado and Carolina as the overwhelming favorites to reach the Stanley Cup Final in a predictions package published May 19. That assessment was attributed to the outlet’s panel, not to the league itself. ### What should viewers watch for next? Wednesday’s opener in Denver starts the Colorado-Vegas series, while Carolina and Montreal are also underway in the East, according to ESPN’s playoff schedule page. NHL.com’s conference-finals schedule and ESPN’s bracket page are tracking dates, broadcast windows and results as the postseason moves toward the Stanley Cup Final.