The Sheet with Jeff Marek
Vegas Sweeps Colorado and ECF Game 4 Preview ft. Peter Baugh & Greg Wyshynski
27 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What led to the Vegas Golden Knights sweeping the Colorado Avalanche?
Oh, nothing to see here, Greg Wyshynski. Just the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in the team's existence. Welcome to the Sheet. This is Wednesday, May the 27th. Glad to have you aboard today. I don't even know where to... There's so many different entry points into the pool here. I don't know if we go like Diving Tower, Diving Board.
We just tread meekly in from the shallow end. We jump in off the side like... What's the most important story for you here before we get to the blueprints and Peter Bach coming up at the bottom of the hour? Where's the entry point for you? For me, it's just been torts, but where is it for you? Diving board?
Are we talking about the Habs? Anyway, those watching on YouTube, those still watching on YouTube after I insulted Montreal, you will notice that I am wearing black.
Chapter 2: How did injuries impact the Colorado Avalanche's performance?
I'm in mourning. The Colorado Avalanche were, of course, my Stanley Cup pick before the season. I said as much to Cale McCarr before the season. He did not like that I picked them, and now we know why. I hexed them. I jinxed them. You can blame me for the sweep in the conference final. I think it starts with injuries, man. Of course it does.
There is no way to get around the fact that we did not actually see the Colorado Avalanche in this series. We didn't know how badly McCarr was hurt to the point of missing the first two games of the series. We knew he was banged up. We knew he was not 100%. But guess what? Cale McCarr at like 40% is still better than like 80% of this league.
Chapter 3: What strategies did the Vegas Golden Knights employ to succeed?
And then we all couldn't have predicted that Nathan McKinnon, and by the way, I'll note the irony of him getting injured on a block shot in a series against John Tortorella, ends up getting hobbled in game three. Game four, he's 20-26 Ovechkin on the power play. He's just standing there trying to make things happen as best he can.
Paul Correa with the blues. Paul Correa with the blues. Just the puck goes through my one-timer. The puck goes through my one-timer here.
I just thought it was really funny during warm-ups. There's a bunch of people covering the game being like, he looks great. I'm like, he's not the same guy, though. It's not going to be the same thing. No. So we didn't get to see the avalanche for reals in this series.
And even if we did, they may not still have won because the bottom line is that the Vegas Golden Knights are peaking at the right time in all facets of their game. They're healthy at the right time.
Chapter 4: What is John Tortorella's influence on the game?
Their goaltender is playing his best at the right time.
And in a series in which depth probably was going to be the point of demarcation between these two teams, the Vegas Golden Knights got goalscoring throughout their lineup, while the Colorado Avalanche depth, the thing that we all thought was going to be the difference between this team stalling out in the Western Conference and winning the Stanley Cup, absolutely did not show up in this series.
Um, the injury one is the most important, I think. And this is why you've heard me say this before. My Stanley cup is the first round as someone who doesn't have a team that he cheers for. I just want to watch good hockey games. The first round is my Stanley cup. And every year I get a really good Stanley cup. And after that, it's just, I say to myself, whoever can stay healthiest.
Whoever can stay healthiest, pick your final. Like when the Vegas Gold Knights won the Stanley Cup, how hobbled were the Florida Panthers? Completely. And again, it's not to take away from anyone winning, but the reality is we don't like to talk about luck because it sounds like you're shrugging someone off. But injury luck is a thing that you need if you're going to win the Stanley Cup, period.
One thing, you know, I'm kind of surprised at one thing that hasn't become part of a story here.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Peter Baugh's insights on Colorado's offseason?
Yeah.
I'm not surprised that Vegas is there. I'm surprised they could do this without Alex Petrangelo. Just because that was such a massive, massive loss for them. And they've gone about it trying to replace, just like what St. Louis did.
Okay, we don't have Petrangelo, so we're going to try to get as many guys here who each do a tiny little bit of what Petrangelo used to do himself, which made him one of the best defensemen in the NHL, one of the most irreplaceable places in the lineup. First D, like number one D. Yeah. They've done this without Alex Petrangelo. It's phenomenal. It really is phenomenal.
If there's two lessons about team building that I think people should take away from the last few Stanley Cups, it's get as many centers as you can and keep them. As much as you're tempted to trade away Anton Lindell for someone, don't do it. Keep all your centers and hope that you have enough that when they're healthy, you can overwhelm the competition.
And I do think that one of the stories of the playoffs so far is the return of William Carlson, which allowed Mitch Marner to play his natural position on the wing.
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Chapter 6: How are the Carolina Hurricanes preparing for Game 4 against the Canadiens?
He was at center for a lot of this year. A lot of people don't know that. That's why his numbers were down. And then the other... The other part of roster building that I think the biggest lesson is you can never have enough very good to elite defensemen. And so when you talk about losing Petrangelo, how do you soften that blow? Well, you've traded for Noah Hannafin, haven't you?
You traded for Rasmus Andersen, haven't you? The Golden Knights identified that they need to build out the stoutest group of defensemen you can have. They've always had a very stout group of defensemen.
and you know bring in the right coach get the right goalie getting hot at the right time and uh and now you're playing for the stanley cup again five times to the conference finals in nine years and the third time they're going to play for the cup is pretty pretty spectacular i mean again when i say spectacular i mean a validation that evil will prevail and that ruthlessness is the path that all these teams need to take uh but but but spectacular nonetheless
Let me pick up on evil here in a couple of seconds here. I'm glad you got us to that point early in the conversation. Here's what's coming up on the program today. The Blueprint is powered by FanDuel.
Chapter 7: What adjustments can Montreal make to improve their chances?
Download the app today and play your game on FanDuel. Coming up on the program, more from our man Greg Wyshynski from ESPN and ESPN.com. The great Peter Boff from The Athletic will weigh in on... What's next for Colorado? And do we see an overreaction, either behind the bench, in the general manager's office, or on the roster? We shall see. Vegas sweeps Colorado, as we all predicted.
Again, what's next for the Avalanche and Eastern Conference? Game 4, 2-1 series lead the Hurricanes have over the Montreal Canadiens. We'll see what happens tonight. Evil! Evil. I have long maintained... And this goes right back to the conversations about how everyone's going to be the same team after the salary cap came in in 2005.
I always liked that the NHL, because I think it needs it as not the number one sport in America or anywhere close to it, needs an evil team, needs a team that everyone can cheer against, a team that everybody can hate.
Chapter 8: What are the future prospects for the Avalanche and their key players?
And it's a team that in pure heel fashion is, keeps on winning, and technically isn't breaking any rules. It just feels wrong what they're doing. This team used to be the New York Rangers. It was really easy to hate the New York Rangers. You as a Devils fan know that all too well. But it's Vegas now. I mean, it's my birthright. It's Vegas now. It's Vegas, it's Vegas, it's Vegas. I disagree.
How so? I disagree.
How so? Vegas' evil comes from the things it does behind the scenes. And sometimes it's malice, like keeping away a terminated coach from a division rival, breaking decades of tradition in the NHL. And sometimes it's being like the Oakland Raiders used to be, where you don't care about what's happened to a player off the ice. As long as they contend goal, you're going to sign them to a contract.
And then sometimes it's simply just, we actually don't care about any of the things you're saying about any of these players. We're going to give Jack Reichel the surgery. It's all behind the scenes. When you watch this team play, though, are they in any way as sinister and rat-like as the Florida Panthers are? No. I mean, they play physically. They pound your defense into oblivion.
But when you talk about loathability, I still think the Florida Panthers have it over the Vegas Golden Knights.
We'll see what happens to the Florida Panthers when they come back and what they look like next season. Having said that, I will grant you that on the ice, the Panthers are really, really easy to loathe. I'm talking about how they go about doing their day-to-day business. And again, I have used this term, I am on record as using this one years ago and calling them ruthless as a compliment.
And there are people in the organization that hate when they're described as ruthless. But I really think in this situation, it is a compliment. They do not care how you feel about them for one second. They are in service of trying to win a Stanley Cup. One of the most revealing things, too. And you can imagine how Bettman felt when he heard it.
I think I mentioned this to you last time we were on together. Bill Foley was on with me and Elliot when I was doing the 32 pod. And I said, like, if there was no salary cap, how much would you spend on players? And without missing a beat, he said, $150 million. It's just all – My man has sold a lot of wine.
What can I tell you? But it's also – I mean like we call it ruthless. We call it evil. And some of the decisions they've made are certainly in league with those terms. But it's also an unwavering confidence in that you've built something that can win.
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