Makar Questionable: Golden Knights At Avalanche In Western Conference Finals Game 2

Western Conference FinalsGame 2Vegas leads 1-0

The lone NHL conference final game on the board tonight is Vegas at Colorado for Western Conference Finals Game 2, and the price reflects a home team chasing a 1-0 series deficit with its Norris-favorite defenseman in limbo. The Avalanche are minus-190 on the moneyline and minus-1.5 on the puck line per FanDuel, with the total at 6.5. Puck drop is 8:00 PM ET from Ball Arena on ESPN, SN, CBC and TVAS. Vegas took Game 1 by a 4-2 score on Wednesday behind a multi-point night from Mitch Marner and a 30-save performance from goaltender Adin Hill. The Avalanche played most of Game 1 without Cale Makar, who was a late scratch for what the team is calling an upper-body injury suffered in the second-round series against Minnesota.

The Makar Question

Cale Makar is the swing variable on tonight's price. The Avalanche held him out of Game 1 with what is publicly described as an upper-body injury (multiple national outlets have reported a shoulder issue dating to the Wild series). Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters Thursday morning that he had no update on Makar's availability for Game 2. If Makar plays, the Avalanche power play returns to its full-strength version and the top defensive pairing is intact; if he is out again, Nick Blankenburg or Jack Ahcan rounds out the blue-line corps. Bednar will announce the lineup at morning skate. The line could move toward Avalanche minus-2 if Makar is in or back toward minus-1.5 even-money if he is out again.

What Game 1 Said

The Golden Knights controlled the run of play through the first 40 minutes and led 3-1 entering the third. Mitch Marner registered a goal and an assist in his first conference final game with the Golden Knights after the July 2025 free-agent move, and the Marner-Jack Eichel-Pavel Dorofeyev line generated four high-danger chances at 5-on-5. Adin Hill stopped 30 of 32 and was the difference at multiple points. Colorado finally broke through on a Nathan MacKinnon power-play goal in the third, but the comeback never materialized because Hill held the line and Vegas added an empty-netter. The bigger pattern: with Makar out, Colorado's transition defense looked vulnerable in ways it has not all postseason.

The Hill Performance

Adin Hill is averaging a .929 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average across the 2026 playoffs for Vegas, and his Game 1 stop on a Mikko Rantanen breakaway with 4:12 remaining in the second period was the save of the night. Hill has now played five of Vegas's last six playoff games, with backup Akira Schmid getting a single start in the Edmonton series. Expect Hill again tonight on full rest. The Avalanche need to push him into traffic and generate second-chance chances around the crease; clean perimeter shots are not getting through.

The Colorado Adjustment Map

The Avalanche enter Game 2 needing to solve four problems. First, the Makar question. Whatever the lineup looks like, the top pair has to shut down the Marner-Eichel-Dorofeyev line at 5-on-5. Second, the special-teams math. Colorado was 1-for-3 on the power play in Game 1; Vegas was 0-for-2 on the man advantage but generated cleaner looks. Third, the defensive-zone exit. The Avalanche turned the puck over in the neutral zone repeatedly in the second period of Game 1, and Vegas converted twice off those plays. Fourth, the goaltending. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of 26 in Game 1; he needs to be at .920 or better for Colorado to win tonight.

The Vegas Adjustment Map

The Golden Knights are the road team but they leave Ball Arena with a 1-0 lead if they win tonight, which is the bigger structural advantage of the night. Head coach Bruce Cassidy's adjustments are mostly maintenance. Keep the Marner line on Cale Makar's pair (or his replacement); keep Eichel in the dot for offensive-zone draws; keep Hill on the back end. The one change worth watching is the bottom-six defensive lines, where Cassidy may roll Brett Howden's group out more if Colorado opens with heavy shifts from MacKinnon and Rantanen.

The 6.5 Total

The total opened at 6 and ticked up to 6.5 after Game 1's combined score of 6 with a third-period empty-netter. Both teams sit in the top eight in the playoff field for shots-for per 60 minutes, and both teams have given up a high-danger chance share north of 50 percent against. The over is the directional read; the under requires Hill or Blackwood to be the night's first star.

What To Watch

Three checkpoints. First, the morning skate at 11:00 AM ET local — that is when Makar's status confirms. Second, the first 10 minutes of period one — Colorado has won its last six home games when they score the opening goal and lost three of four when they did not. Third, the Marner-line ice time at 5-on-5. If Cassidy can get Marner-Eichel out for 20-plus minutes against whatever defensive pair replaces Makar (or against Makar himself if he plays), Vegas wins the run of play.