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Avalanche robbed? Massive controversy erupts after Game 2

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David St-Jean
May 23, 2026  (6:05)
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May 22, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) and center Nathan MacKinnon (29) react following a Vegas Golden Knights goal during the third period of game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena.
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Colorado Avalanche walked out of Ball Arena Friday night with a 1-3 loss to Vegas, and Jared Bednar has every right to be furious about how it happened.

Two glaring non-calls flipped the night. One on Rasmus Andersson. One on Brayden McNabb. Both on key Colorado forwards. Neither whistled.

The first sequence had Andersson catching Nazem Kadri with no puck in sight. Kadri stayed down. The arm stayed down too.

You can see the play here. Andersson rides through Kadri well after the puck is gone, and Kadri turns instantly to look for the official.

The second one stings even more. McNabb caught Martin Necas in the face with the glove right in front of the Vegas bench, and the officials huddled before waving it off.

Necas finished the night with 4 penalty minutes of his own and a -2 rating. He's the guy with 100 points this season and zero help from the stripes.

Bednar's group held to one goal as the calls vanish

Ross Colton scored Colorado's only goal. Brent Burns drew the lone assist. That was the offense, in full, for the Presidents' Trophy winners.

Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves on 24 shots and took the loss. The game-deciding goals came on Vegas pucks Colorado never got close to retrieving cleanly.

Nathan MacKinnon went without a point and finished minus-1 on a single shot. The league's most dangerous forward, neutralized while his linemates were getting glove-checked in the mouth.

Ivan Barbashev burned Colorado for 2 goals and an assist. Jack Eichel chipped in a goal and an assist of his own. Pavel Dorofeyev added 2 assists.

Cale Makar is listed day-to-day, which only thickens the cloud hanging over this series. Colorado finished the regular season 55-16-11 and 99 in goal differential. None of that is showing up right now.

John Tortorella's Vegas group is taking liberties because, so far, there's no price to pay. That changes the moment a referee decides to call the obvious one. Or it doesn't, and Colorado is in real trouble.