Worst collapse of Avs season has history against Colorado

It's the Avs worst collapse of the year, and it has history firmly working against the team that was the Stanley Cup favorite all season long

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

May 22, 2026, 9:14 PM

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Watch: Why haven't the Avs gotten a deal done with Cale Makar? | Stokley and Evans with Mark Schlereth | 1 min

The Colorado Avalanche hadn’t lost in regulation this year in the 38 games they led after the first period, until Friday — dropping Game 2 3-1 in the Western Conference Final to the Vegas Golden Knights. Heck, the Avs had been 45-0-0 when leading entering the third period this season.

It’s the team’s worst collapse of the year, and it has history firmly working against the team that was the Stanley Cup favorite all season long. Only one team in NHL history has come back after losing the first two home games of a series before the Final. That was the 1945 Red Wings. Since the league officially named this round the Conference Finals in 1982, teams are 13-0 when in the Vegas spot.

Adding to the steep climb: Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has never overcome an 0-2 series deficit in his career.

The collapse was striking in its suddenness. Ross Colton put Colorado ahead late in the first period with a goal at 16:59, assisted by Brent Burns and Nazem Kadri, and the Avalanche carried that 1-0 lead into the third period at Ball Arena.

Then the strong Scott Wedgewood dam broke. Jack Eichel tied the game at 9:15 of the third, Ivan Barbashev gave Vegas the lead at 11:22 and Barbashev added an empty-netter at 18:57 to seal it. All three Vegas goals came at even strength in the final frame.

“They were opportunistic, they pack it in and make it tough to score and they look for their chances,” Wedgewood said. “They got it off the post and in twice. Sucks when you feel like you’re in control. Didn’t get enough to put them away.”

More from Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood on what went wrong in the third period collapse. pic.twitter.com/uVfUgF7V9M

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 23, 2026

The numbers tell the story of a team that controlled play but couldn’t find a second goal. Colorado outshot Vegas 30-25 and had a few power play chances but Vegas netminder Carter Hart had the answers.

Wedgewood took the loss after allowing two goals on 24 shots, despite being strong in the first two periods.

“Flip the script, win two there, come back and get home ice again,” Wedgewood said. “They did it to us, there’s no reason we can’t do it to them. We gotta find ways to put pucks in the net and keep it out of ours. Flip the script and go to work.”

Forward Logan O’Connor echoed that approach, putting the onus squarely on the room.

“It’s about us and our process, we control what we can control,” O’Connor said. “It’s about effort… it’s on us to forget about it, learn from it and come back with a lot more hunger. We need the next one.”

Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor said it’s on the team to learn from this and forget about it. pic.twitter.com/gwb1644u8Q

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 23, 2026

The Avalanche now head to Las Vegas needing to win four of the next five against a Golden Knights team that has stolen home-ice advantage and has decades of NHL history on their side.

Game 3 is Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, the Avs will just have to hope Cale Makar can save everything.