Former Canucks Nic Dowd, Ben Hutton, and John Tortorella are one win away from advancing to the 2026 Stanley Cup Final with the Vegas Golden Knights.
One more win.
That’s all it could take for the Vegas Golden Knights to advance to the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals, reaching this benchmark for the third time since dropping the puck on their inaugural season in 2017–18.
Some of Vegas’ players are no strangers to Stanley Cup Finals. Former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Ben Hutton is one of 12 players currently under contract with the Golden Knights who won the Stanley Cup with the team back in 2023. Others, such as head coach John Tortorella, lifted the trophy with other teams before finding their way to Vegas.
All it will take is one more win.
Vegas came out swinging to start this year’s Western Conference Final against a battered Colorado Avalanche team, winning both Games 1 and 2 in Denver before taking an even greater series lead on home-ice with a shocking 5–3 comeback win. Their performance thus far has put them on the verge of sweeping the 2025–26 President’s Trophy winners.
In some ways, it’s felt like Vegas has become a different team since former Canucks head coach Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as the Golden Knights’ bench boss at the end of March. The move seems to have paid off in dividends, however, as the team has lost only five games in both playoffs and the regular season since he’d been brought on-board.
May 24, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates scoring third period against the Colorado Avalanche in game three of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn ImagesOne former Canuck has made a big impact for the Golden Knights, particularly in this series. Nic Dowd scored an important empty-net goal in Game 1 to halt Colorado’s oncoming insurgence, beating out two of the Avalanche’s skaters to give his team a bigger lead to work with. In Game 3, he made a point of pestering Avalanche star Cale Makar, who’d made his series debut in this match, to try and negate his effectiveness.
One more win stands between Vegas and the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights could punch their ticket as soon as Game 4 on Tuesday, with puck drop scheduled for 6:00 pm PT.
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