Vegas steals Game 1 in Denver as Makar watches from the tunnel

Colorado without Makar is a science experiment, and the early returns are ugly. Vegas jumped first thanks to a name nobody had circled coming in - Dylan Coghlan, a depth defenseman flying around the ice like he was auditioning for a top pair. Whitney clocked it immediately and pointed out the obvious: the Avs blue line just doesn't function the same when their best player is in a suit.

Ryan Whitney

@ryanwhitney6

This Dylan Coghlan is good. Out of nowhere. He flys 1-0 Vegas. Colorado so different without Makar

The Vegas-is-cooked narrative aged about 48 hours. This is a team that was supposed to be a speed bump for a stacked Colorado group, and instead they're the ones humming heading into a series the rest of the league assumed would be a Denver coronation. Whitney, who picked against them too, was busy eating crow live on the timeline.

Ryan Whitney

@ryanwhitney6

Where are all the Avs fans saying Vegas was going to get drummed in this series ? I thought the same at beginning of playoffs but this Vegas time is just humming. No makar and the Avs could be in one

The real story player-wise is Brett Howden, who entered the playoffs as a third-line guy and has somehow already matched his entire previous postseason goal total in a single run. 9 goals in 43 career playoff games coming in, 9 goals in this run alone. That is not a bottom-six contribution - that is a difference-maker rewriting his own resume in real time.

Ryan Whitney

@ryanwhitney6

That’s game. Brett Howden what a playoff. Had 9 goals in 43 previous playoff games and this year has 9 already. What a run

Denver did not go quietly. MacKinnon, because he is MacKinnon, dragged the Avs back into the game with a move that left Brayden McNabb spinning in place looking for his stick. Even short Makar, you do not bury a team that has 97 on it without a fight, and for a stretch it looked like Vegas was going to have to sweat the third period out.

Ryan Whitney

@ryanwhitney6

Oh my god mackinnon just put McNabb in the blender. WE GOT A GAME FOLKS

Then came Dowd. An empty-netter that Whitney swore was going to be waved off for icing turned into the seal, and Carter Hart - who has quietly been excellent this run - locked it down on the other end. Vegas is up 1-0 in the series, and now the only question that matters is whether Makar can get a needle and a prayer and suit up for Game 2. Because if he can't, this thing is going to get weird fast.