Three keys to the Vegas Golden Knights toppling the goliath Colorado Avalanche

The Vegas Golden Knights took care of business on Thursday with a resounding 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Yes, that meant losing a draft pick and $100,000 for not doing a media session. But hey, the team's gotta get to the airport, you know?

Anyways, their next opponent is the Colorado Avalanche. In case you don't know, Colorado was the regular season champions with 121 points. That's good enough to get you a President's Trophy and the top overall seed that comes with it. Granted, there are some stipulations with this.

A President's Trophy winner hasn't won the Stanley Cup since the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks, who won it in... a shortened season impacted by a strike. For the full season, you'd have to go back to the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings, who went six games to defeat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So, how can the Golden Knights make the Avalanche yet another victim of this peculiar curse? Well, three things must happen for this to become reality. Believe it or not, it comes from some well-known players, too.

Carter Hart has a strong series against the Colorado Avalanche

Entering the Western Conference Final, the Colorado Avalanche were the highest-scoring team in the Stanley Cup playoffs (4.11 GF/G). You know the names, ranging from Nathan MacKinnon (seven goals and six assists) to Martin Necas (11 points). That's not even mentioning other heavy hitters such as Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog.

Of course, they'll have to get past Carter Hart, who's having a great postseason. You're looking at a GAA of 2.37 and a save percentage of .917 entering the Conference Final, which should be an interesting matchup. The advanced statistics also tell a story of how well Hart has done this postseason (stats courtesy of MoneyPuck, minimum of three games played).

The objective here is simple: keep the Avalanche attack at bay. Expect plenty of shots at the ears, i.e. like the Mammoth, since the former Flyers netminder plays a butterfly style. But it's still on him to be at the top of his game against a high-octane team like Colorado.

The Golden Knights need a fully healthy team on the ice against Colorado

The second round saw what happens when you don't have key penalty killers like Jeremy Lauzon on the ice. Suddenly, the Ducks pinpointed their attack towards exploiting the lack of a physical presence and made their power play explode in Game 4 and beyond. That's how they got four power play goals in that span.

That's why they need Lauzon to show up for the series. Believe it or not, the former Nashville Predator excels at making clean exits and can win puck battles. But he's not the only Golden Knight who must return.

You also need Mark Stone back for the series to blitz the Avalanche goaltending. They rank fifth in GA/G in the playoffs entering the Western Conference Final (2.56), riding a solid tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. What better way to attack that than to have your Captain back to lead the attack?

Have Jack Eichel get some goals against the Avalanche

Entering the Western Conference Final, Jack Eichel only had one goal. One goal! Granted, it isn't like he's not trying, especially in the analytics department (3.5 Expected Goals, 21st in the NHL, minimum of 100 minutes). However, the Golden Knights need him to cash in on those opportunities to impact the series.

Look at the opposite side for a second. You'll see that Nathan MacKinnon has impacted the Avalanche offense with seven goals. That's the type of production that Eichel needs to help the Golden Knights upset the Avalanche.

Marner has already picked up the reins with a solid postseason performance (a league-leading 18 points during the postseason). The gold medalist should take some notes from his fellow superstar and generate some high-danger chances. That way, Vegas can constantly keep Colorado on its heels.

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