Colorado Avalanche vs Vegas Golden Knights Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/24/2026

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Sunday, May 24, 2026

Venue:  T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -148, Knights +124; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -150, Knights +125; Over/Under:  6 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -145, Knights +125; Over/Under:  6 goals

Colorado Avalanche:  55-16-11 (1st place, Central Division)

Vegas Golden Knights:  39-26-17 (1st place, Pacific Division)

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Colorado Avalanche:  7-3-0 last 10

Vegas Golden Knights:  8-2-0 last 10

The Avalanche are entering the playoffs with 121 points, a 55-16-11 record overall, and they were 29-7-5 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Vegas Golden Knights in their last game, losing that one at home 3-1. Ross Colton scored 1 goal for them in that one. Brent Burns and Nazem Kadri each led the team in assists with 1 while Brent Burns led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Scott Wedgewood was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 2 goals on 24 shots with 22 saves and a .917 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 302 goals this season averaging 3.7 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 203 goals against them allowing 2.5 goals per game.

The Golden Knights are entering the playoffs with 95 points, a 39-26-17 record overall, and they were 20-12-9 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Colorado Avalanche in their last game, winning that one on the road 3-1. Ivan Barbashev led the team in goals scored with 2 while Jack Eichel scored 1 goal for them in that one. Pavel Dorofeyev led the team in assists with 2 while Mitch Marner led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Carter Hart was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 30 shots with 29 saves and a .967 save percentage. Their offense has scored 265 goals this season averaging 3.2 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 250 goals against them allowing 3 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Avalanche listed as a favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Avalanche have looked great in their games this season with their 55-16-11 record overall which had them right at the top of their division in the West with the best record in the entire NHL. They have been a great road team too with their 29-7-5 road record this year. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights have looked good in their games this season with their 39-26-17 record overall which had them right at the top of their division in the West. They have looked good on home ice too with their 20-12-9 home record this season. This is game 3 of a 7-game series between the 1st seeded Avalanche from the Central Division and the 1st seeded Golden Knights from the Pacific Division for the Western Conference Finals of the NHL playoffs. The Golden Knights are entering this game with a 2-0 series lead after winning game 2 by a score of 3-1. The Golden Knights came out really strong in the first 2 games and now they are in a great position to end this series at home. They have been rolling lately, but the Avalanche are going to have an answer to those 2 losses. They didn't look bad in game 2 as they took an early lead this time and ended up hanging on until late in the 3rd period when they gave up the tying goal and from there they collapsed. The Avalanche have been rolling in the playoffs though and after being the best team in the NHL all season, they aren't going to go down without a fight. They are going to throw everything they have at this game to avoid going into a 3-0 hole and they are very capable of winning games on the road. Look for the Avalanche to have an answer in this one and make this a series. The best way to place a bet here is on the Avalanche to win this game. 

Avalanche Golden Knights Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Sunday, May 24, 2026 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Avalanche 3 Knights 2.

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Colorado Avalanche: 46-41 (-7.3 units) on the moneyline when the money line is -100 to -150. 72-61 (-9.2 units) on the moneyline when playing against a team with a winning record. 20-15 (-11.2 units) on the moneyline after playing 3 consecutive home games. 39-27 UNDER revenging a same season loss vs opponent.

Vegas Golden Knights: 30-30 (+6.5 units) on the moneyline as an underdog of +100 to +200. 32-21 (+10.4 units) on the moneyline when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 75%). 31-24 (+7 units) on the moneyline versus very good teams - outscoring their opponents by 0.5+ goals/game. 31-18 UNDER when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 75%).

Colorado Avalanche:  C. Makar (D) Day To Day - Undisclosed.

Vegas Golden Knights:  M. Stone (RW) Day To Day - Lower-Body. J. Lauzon (D) Out - Upper-Body.

“You know you’re running into some adversity and you’re going to lose some games in the playoffs. That’s just facts. We can’t ride the emotional roller coaster like fans, right? You lose Game 1, you’re getting swept. If we win Game 1, we’re sweeping them. Like, that’s not reality. You have to deal with the task at hand and what’s to come. We’re not going to try and win four games the next night in Vegas. We’re trying to win one. It can sound cliche, but that’s how we approach it. Focus on our process, what we need to do. We played a great hockey game tonight. So did they. It could go either way. You’re not giving up on your season because all of a sudden you lost two games in the playoffs. There’s still lots of hockey to be played.” - Jared Bednar after his team’s loss against the Golden Knights in the 2nd game of this series on Friday. 

“We found a way. I thought the key part of the game was (it was) a real struggle in the second period for us but we still entered the locker room just down 1-0. I thought that was the key moment of the game, and we felt we were in a good spot going into the third down by a goal in this building, Game 2. We just wanted to keep on playing. We're trying to play our game the way we feel we need to play, and we found a way. We're going to have to be better each and every game. They're going to be better. We're going to have to be better in all areas, especially some of the situational play.” - John Tortorella after his team’s win against the Avalanche in game 2 of this series on Friday.

LW Gabriel Landeskog

C Nathan MacKinnon

RW Martin Necas

LD Devon Toews

RD Sam Malinski

G Scott Wedgewood

LW Ivan Barbashev

C Jack Eichel

RW Pavel Dorofeyev

LD Brayden McNabb

RD Shea Theodore

G Carter Hart

Points: Nathan MacKinnon (127)

Goals: Nathan MacKinnon (53)

Assists: Nathan MacKinnon (74)

GAA: Scott Wedgewood (2.02)

Points: Jack Eichel (90)

Goals: Pavel Dorofeyev (37)

Assists: Jack Eichel (63)

GAA: Akira Schmid (2.59)

Coaches:

Colorado Avalanche: Jared Bednar (10th season)

Vegas Golden Knights: John Tortorella (Interim)