Colorado finished as the top team in the NHL regular season and was 8–1 through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Then it all came to a complete stop.
Swedish goalscorer
Vegas won their fourth straight game (2–1) last night and are now through to the Stanley Cup Final, albeit with some nerves. Colorado's Swedish captain Gabriel Landeskog managed to cut the lead to 2–1 with just over two minutes left in the game - but the home team, Vegas, held on.
This is what we have been playing for and dreaming about for all these years. At the same time, the job is not done yet, says Rasmus Andersson.
Swede William Karlsson is also on the team.
"It's so damn awesome, it's a privilege to be back in a final," says Karlsson.
Landeskog's disappointment
The playoff adventure ended earlier than Gabriel Landeskog and Colorado had expected after being by far the best team in the regular season.
"One moment you're in the middle of the battle. Then the final whistle blows and suddenly the season is over. It's a difficult feeling to try to describe to someone else, I can only say that it feels very empty," says the Swede, according to Aftonbladet.
Colorado won four straight games against Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs, and then beat Minnesota in five games - but Vegas proved too strong.
“Finding ways to lose”
"In parts of this series, I still think we played well, but instead of finding ways to win, like in the first two rounds, we started finding ways to lose," says Landeskog.
Vegas has previously been to the Stanley Cup Final twice since the team's entry into the NHL in 2017–2018, winning the title in 2023.
In the final, Vegas will face either Carolina or Montreal, who will play in the other semifinal series. Carolina leads 2–1 in games.
