DENVER (AP) — A Western Conference Final loaded with offensive firepower was ignited by the unlikeliest of sparkplugs.
Dylan Coghlan’s wrist shot under Scott Wedgewood’s legs ended a scoreless deadlock and helped the Vegas Golden Knights steal home ice from the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche with a 4-2 statement win Wednesday night at Ball Arena.
“Honestly, I didn't know it went in until I looked at Shea (Theodore) and he was just smiling at me,” Coghlan said.
It was Coghlan’s first career NHL playoff goal, his fist score in the league in nearly five years and just his seventh net-finder of his career. Adding to his big night, the 28-year-old defenseman made a terrific breakup of a 3-on-2 breakaway that kept the Avalanche scuffling to find the net themselves.
“Yeah, so happy for him,” winning goalie Carter Hart said. "He came in in the Anaheim series. I thought he did a tremendous job then. Stepped up tonight huge. That was a huge first goal for us tonight and I couldn't be happier for the guy."
Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev praised Coghlan's overall game, saying, “It's not just about his goal. He did a lot of things right, especially in D-zone, on breakouts.”
But, that goal ...
Coghlan hadn’t scored since Dec. 17, 2021, in a game against the New York Islanders, and half of his six career goals came on a hat trick in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on March 10, 2021.
“He's an easy guy to pull for,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said.
Coghlan had 14 goals in 62 games this season for Henderson in the American Hockey League. He was scoreless in three regular-season games for Vegas.
“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Tortorella said. “I think he’s one of our best defensemen since he’s been with us and in the lineup. ... He’s a bit unflappable.”
The Golden Knights stole home ice from the top-seeded Avalanche, who had won eight of nine games in these playoffs before their dud in the Western Conference Final opener.
Colorado defenseman Cale Makar missed Game 1 with an upper-body injury. Makar left the ice holding his right arm following a collision late in Game 5 against Minnesota last week but returned as Colorado won the game in overtime.
Makar’s absence proved a big blow for the Avalanche. This is the first time Makar has missed a playoff game for the Avalanche with an injury. The Norris Trophy finalist has four goals and an assist while averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time through the opening two rounds. Makar also is an integral part of Colorado’s special teams, which surrendered a power-play goal to Dorofeyev in the second period.
Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless game in the second period.
“There’s definitely a trickle-down effect to that,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he’s not playing. We have to find a way.”
Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because of the bonds he’d formed.
“This is probably the best I’ve felt in my whole career,” Coghlan said. “Whoever it is I’m playing with I’m very comfortable out there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty world-class players.”
This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Pavel Dorofeyev’s last name.
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham and AP freelancer Ashlyn Stapleton contributed to this report.
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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, center, reacts after scoring a goal as Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson, left, and defenseman Josh Manson cover during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front, shoots the puck for a goal after driving past Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front left, is congratulated after scoring a goal by defenseman Shea Theodore, back left, and center Tomas Hertl during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An attorney who was present for the planned execution of Tony Carruthers in Tennessee on Thursday said it was called off after officials struggled to find a vein for an hour.
Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw Carruthers “wincing and groaning” and called it “horrible” to watch.
An email to a spokeswoman for the state corrections department was not immediately returned.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is scheduled to execute Tony Carruthers on Thursday after his attorneys questioned whether the state's lethal injection drugs had expired and courts denied requests to test DNA and fingerprint evidence or to deem him mentally incompetent.
Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker. He was forced to represent himself at trial after repeatedly complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm several of them.
There was no physical evidence tying Carruthers to the killings, and he was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from people who claimed to have heard him confess to or discuss the crimes.
They include a man who was later revealed to be a police informant and told media he was paid for his testimony. A co-defendant, James Montgomery, was originally sentenced to death along with Carruthers but was later resentenced and released from prison in 2015, according to court filings.
Authorities said Marcellos Anderson was a drug dealer, and Carruthers was trying to take over the illegal drug trade in their Memphis neighborhood. Carruthers' attorneys have said their client's “paranoia and delusions” prevented him from being able to cooperate with court-appointed counsel, but the judge viewed this behavior as willful.
The Tennessee Supreme Court said on appeal that Carruthers’ actions before the trial jury were offensive and self-destructive but the situation in which he found himself was one of his own making. If the execution goes forward as scheduled, Carruthers will be the first person to be executed after being forced to represent himself in more than a century, according to a clemency petition to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
In the petition, Carruthers' attorneys argue that the reason he was sentenced to death was because a medical examiner testified the victims were buried alive, going into excruciating detail for the jury. He later withdrew that claim and subsequent experts have said it was false.
Carruthers' attorneys have tried to show that he is incompetent to be executed. They claim in court filings that Carruthers believes the government is bluffing about executing him in order to coerce him into accepting a plea deal that exists only in his mind. That way, Carruthers believes, the government can avoid paying him what he thinks are millions of dollars it owes him. He is convinced that his own attorneys are part of a conspiracy against him and refuses to even speak with them, according to court filings.
The number of executions in the U.S. surged from 25 in 2024 to 47 last year, driven by a sharp increase in Florida. That state carried out 19 executions in 2025, up from one the previous year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. So far this year, four states have executed 13 people, and 11 other executions are scheduled including one Thursday evening in Florida.
It’s not unusual to see several executions over a short period of time. Last year, four people were executed over three days in March in Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona. Another five people were executed over a week in October in Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida and Indiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Tennessee began a new round of executions last year after a three-year pause following the discovery that the state was not properly testing lethal injection drugs for purity and potency.
An independent review later found that none of the drugs prepared for the seven inmates executed in Tennessee since 2018 had been fully tested. The state attorney general’s office also conceded in court that two of the people most responsible for overseeing Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “ incorrectly testified ” under oath that officials were testing the chemicals as required.
Bethany Mann, right, and Pat Halper, left, both of whom oppose the death penalty, greet one another outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of Tony Von Carruthers Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Rev. Rick Laude enters the area reserved for those in support of the death penalty outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of Tony Von Carruthers Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
People talk in the area reserved for those who are opposed to the death penalty outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of Tony Von Carruthers Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Guards on horses are posted next to the area reserved for people opposed to the death penalty outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of Tony Von Carruthers Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
This Tennessee Department of Correction photo shows inmate Tony Carruthers. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP)
