The Colorado Avalanche rolled into the Western Conference Final carrying serious Stanley Cup buzz after battling through adversity all season and tearing through the early playoff rounds. But two games into their matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights, the vibe around Colorado has flipped fast after another brutal third-period meltdown at Ball Arena.
Vegas walked into Denver and won both games with late-game swagger, while the Avalanche suddenly look shaky without injured star defenseman Cale Makar anchoring the blueline.
As the frustration around Colorado’s top players keeps growing, Wayne Gretzky’s warning about how hard Makar is to replace is starting to hit a little too close to home.
Colorado Avalanche’s Missing Edge Becoming a Major Storyline
Martin Necas has become one of the central talking points after Colorado dropped Game 2 by a 3-1 score Friday night. The Avalanche forward, who posted a 100-point regular season and is signed on an 8-year, $92 million extension, struggled to generate impact plays as Vegas erased Colorado’s third-period lead and grabbed full control of the series.
After the loss, NHL analyst Matt Kleinholz openly criticized several Avalanche stars on X. “29 [Nathan MacKinnon], 92 [Gabriel Landeskog], 88 [Necas], 11 [Brock Nelson], 8 [Makar] all total (or literal) no shows,” Kleinholz wrote. “All their best players turned to pumpkins. The lack of effort is the worst part.”
The criticism centered heavily around Necas and Brock Nelson after Colorado’s offense disappeared late in the game. Kleinholz added, “The Nelson and Necas contracts suddenly look like anchors. Nelson especially looks a million years old.”
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski later expanded on the concern surrounding Necas’s play during the series. “Necas has been a ghost this series,” Wyshynski wrote on X. “Minus-4 overall, zero points. Bednar moved him down to Nelson’s line in the 3rd period and bumped Artturi Lehkonen up with MacKinnon.”
That reaction became even more notable because Necas had been one of Colorado’s most productive players entering the conference final. Through his first eight playoff games, he recorded nine points and carried strong momentum from a dominant second-round series against Minnesota. His speed metrics also ranked among the best in the postseason, making his quiet stretch against Vegas even more surprising.
At the same time, Gretzky’s earlier concerns about Colorado missing Makar have become impossible to ignore. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show before Game 2, Gretzky said, “You don’t replace Cale Makar. It’s just as simple as that.”
Gretzky also acknowledged Vegas’s structure and playoff experience while discussing the matchup. “Vegas is going to be a tough out,” he said. “They’re a veteran team. They play properly. They’re unselfish. They play hard. And they’re getting great goaltending from Carter Hart.”
Those points played out again Friday night. Colorado controlled stretches early and carried a 1-0 lead into the third period after Ross Colton’s first-period goal. But Vegas slowly tilted the game back in its favor behind strong forechecking pressure and disciplined puck management as Jack Eichel tied the score and Ivan Barbashev delivered the winner.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski also highlighted the uphill climb now facing Colorado after dropping the opening 2 games at home. He wrote that teams trailing 0-2 at home in conference finals are historically 1-20 all-time, while clubs starting with two road wins in the round are 13-0 since 1982.
For an Avalanche roster built around star power and championship expectations, the urgency has suddenly become very real.
