Colorado Avelanch (1C) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (3A)
avalanche: 56-19-7, 119 points
lightning: 51-23-8, 110 points
Season series: COL 2-0; TBL 0-1-1
Game 1: Wednesday, 20:00 ET (ESPN +, ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Tampa Bay Lightning will strive to win the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season when they play Colorado Avelanche in the Stanley Cup final.
Lightning will be the first team to win three times in a row since the New York Islanders won the Cup four consecutive seasons from 1980-83. Avalanche last won the Cup in 2001.
“I’m just sitting here right now thinking about the scale of going to the third final of the Stanley Cup,” said Lightning coach John Cooper. “You grew up as a child and I wasn’t good enough to play in this league, but when you grow up in Canada, you always dream of having your name in the Stanley Cup. The first time you got there was a dream come true. Going there for the second time next year was a dream. Going a third time is unthinkable. “
Tampa Bay defeated the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals to advance.
Colorado will eventually wait nine days after finishing four games with the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals on June 6. They Avelanch had an eight-day break after defeating the Nashville Predators in the first round.
“The coaches are doing a good job of making sure we’re working, getting our work done and it’s good to get some rest, but we’ve been through that already in these playoffs, where we had time to get ready for the series,” said the Avalanche striker. JT Compher. “It’s just to keep your mind in it. You have a little time to relax, but just mentally make sure you’re refreshed and focused on the goal ahead.”
[RELATED: 2022 Stanley Cup Final schedule | Stanley Cup Final coverage]
Avalanche have won both regular season games against Lightning. Striker Gabriel Landeskog (two goals, one assist) had three points in two games against them, and striker Nathan McKinnon had three points (one goal, two assists) in one game. Goalkeeper Darcy Kumper was 2-0 with 2.40 goals against the average and .929 percent save.
Striker Braden Point led the Lightning with three points (two goals, one assist) in two games against Avalanche. Forwards Stephen Stamkos (one goal, one assist) and Ondrej Palat (two assists) had two points each. Goalkeeper Andrei Vassilevski was 0-1-1 with a 2.96 GAA and a .919 save on two starts.
Point has a lower body injury and has not played since Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Cooper was unsure of Point 1’s status for Game 1, but said it was “extremely likely” Point would play in the series.
Interrupting games
avalanche: McKinnon has 18 points and leads Colorado with 11 goals in 14 playoff games. McKinnon also led Avalanche with five goals in the power game and scored his second hat-trick of his career since the season against St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of the second round of the Western Conference. His speed and strength always make him the focus of the opposition.
lightning: Nikita Kucherov continues to be a force for Tampa Bay. The striker leads Lightning with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 17 playoff games. He is nine points away from the highest in his career 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists), which he had in 25 playoff games in 2020. Kucherov has three goals and three assists during a series of five points.
Goalkeeping
avalanche: Kumper has missed the last three games of the conference final after suffering an upper body injury in Game 1 against the Oilers. He would be available on Wednesday, but will Colorado go with Kumper or Paul Francois, who started and won games 2, 3 and 4 against Edmonton? Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said he and his team would discuss options. Kuemper is 6-2 with 2.65 GAA and .897 percent save on 10 starts; Francouz is 6-0 with a 2.86 GAA, a .906 save and one save in six games (four starts).
lightning: There is no doubt who is starting for Tampa Bay. Vassilevski is 12-5-0 with a 2.27 GAA, a .928 save and a shutdown in 17 starts. He won the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason when Lightning won the Cup in 2021 and is once again fighting for that honor. He is 61-34 with a 2.24 GAA, a .925 percent save and seven disqualifications in 98 career playoff games (93 starts).
Numbers you need to know
avalanche: 31.1. The percentage of powerful play for Colorado, which is 14-for-45 and has scored a man’s advantage in nine of his 14 games since the season. Avalanche continued where they left off in the regular season when they had their seventh-best NHL game (67 vs. 279, 24 percent).
lightning: 2.41. Goals against a game in 16 games, the best of any team remaining in the postseason (Dallas Stars conceded 2.14 goals per game in seven games). Tampa Bay conceded two or fewer goals in nine playoff games. At the close of their series against New York, Lightning held the Rangers to one goal in each of the last three games.
X-factors
avalanche: Cale McCarthy. He could also be listed as a robber of the game, because he is. The defender plays with the agility of a top-class striker and leads Colorado with 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 14 playoff games. He saved his best for match 4 of the conference final, when he had five points (one goal, four assists) to help eliminate the Oilers. He was the first defender in NHL history to score five points in a clinch match.
lightning: Ondrej Palat. Selection from the seventh round (№ 208) by Tampa Bay in the 2011 NHL Draft, the striker is exceptional this postseason. He has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 17 games, second in the Lightning after Kucherov. Palat, whose eight goals are second in Lightning after Stephen Stamkos with nine, always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He has two winning goals this postseason and 11 in his career, most in Lightning history.
They said it
It’s no secret that they have some electric players and, frankly, [they’re] probably a team we thought we would play with in the last few years. … They have just an amazing mix of veteran presence, star power, grinders, goalkeeper. So, a huge challenge for us, but we will make a game plan for the next few days and, as we do every series, we will try to do it as best we can and give ourselves a chance. “ “Lightning Captain Stephen Stamkos.”
“They are just a team that knows how to win at the moment. They have done it for the last two years and are on the verge of doing it again. Each of these teams, they have gone through countless times of adversity and various situations they have encountered, and each time they somehow get out of them. So, that’s something we’re going to have to include. ” – Defender of Avalanche Devon Toews
Will win if…
avalanche: They get goalkeepers from whichever they start. Colorado has apparently faced some firepower against Edmonton in strikers Connor McDavid, Leon Drysight and Evander Kane. The avalanche will again have to deal with the Lightning with Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Palat and Stamkos and others. Whether it’s Kumper or Francois, he will have to be the best and he will need the same protection from him.
lightning: If they can stand it. The depth of Tampa Bay was crucial to reaching this point after winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021. Now Lightning are starting another long series against the Rangers, but the Avalanche have not played since 6 June. They have played a lot in hockey over the last three seasons and it would be easy to think that he will finally catch up with them. However, betting against them does not seem reasonable.
How do they look
Avalanche forecast composition
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan McKinnon – Arthur Lekonen
Valeri Nichushkin – Nazem Kadri – Miko Rantanen
Andre Burakowski – JT Compher – Nikola Obe-Kubel
Andrew Collano – Darren Helm – Logan O’Connor
Devon Tows – Cale McCarthy
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson
Bowen Bayram – Eric Johnson
Darcy Kumper
Pavel Frankuz
Scratched: Nico Storm, Alex Newhook, Ryan Murray, Curtis McDermid, Trent Miner
wounded: Samuel Girard (sternum)
Quickly designed composition
Andrew Palace – Stephen Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Heigl – Anthony Sirelli – Alex Killarn
Ross Colton – Nicholas Paul – Corey Perry
Pat Maroon – Pierre-Edward Belmare – Riley Nash
Victor Hedman – Ian Ruth
Ryan McDonagh – Eric Chernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Zak Bogosyan
Andrey Vasilevsky
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Cal Foot
wounded: Brayden Point (lower body)
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