Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin scored the team's first goal in Wednesday's 4-2 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. He got the Avalanche on the board with 5:53 played in the third period. At the 17:39 mark, Gabriel Landeskog made it a one-goal game on the power play, but Colorado's offensive surge came clearly too late. Nichushkin has had a disappointing postseason. Before Wednesday night, he had gone three consecutive games without a point, and overall, the Russian forward has made an offensive impact in only three of Colorado's 10 games. Having contributed just two goals and two assists so far, Nichushkin has plenty of room to step up his game.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon took his point streak to seven games with an assist in a 4-2 Game 1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. MacKinnon entered the series with an incredible six-game goal streak. While he couldn't light the lamp with three attempts on the net, MacKinnon still extended his point streak late in the game when Gabriel Landeskog scored a power-play goal. MacKinnon has been a scoring machine yet again in the playoffs, posting 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 10 games. His play is directly tied to the team's success, and MacKinnon can't afford to drop a level right now, especially with Cale Makar (undisclosed) out of the lineup.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden continued his special playoff run with another goal in a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. He put the visitors up 3-0 early in the third period, and Howden's ninth goal of the postseason proved to be the game-winner. Howden, who found the back of the net just 13 times during the regular season, has become only the sixth player in NHL history to record a six-game road goal streak in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 13 playoff games, Howden has also contributed two assists. With Howden in top form, the Golden Knights might be just fine without Mark Stone (lower body) in the Western Conference Finals. The 28-year-old has failed to score just twice in the last 10 games.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl extended his point streak to four games with an assist in Wednesday's 4-2 Game 1 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Alongside Mitchell Marner, Hertl set up Pavel Dorofeyev's power-play goal late in the second period. With that, Hertl has power-play points in three straight games. The Czechia veteran has been in the backseat for most of the postseason but has come alive in recent games. Hertl has notched seven points (two goals, five assists) in 13 playoff outings, with five of the points coming during his current four-game hot streak.