(3A) Lightning at (1C) Avalanche
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Colorado leads the best of 7 series with 3-1
Colorado Avelanch could win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001 with a win against Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final at the Ball Arena in Denver on Friday.
Avalanche led 3-1 in a series of the best of 7 with a 3-2 overtime win in game 4 on Wednesday. Colorado is 15-3 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, including 7-2 at the Ball Arena, but be aware that this home game will be different from the Stanley Cup in the building.
“You try to treat it like another day, but you will have thoughts of different things that have not been there all year,” said Avalanche defender Bowen Bayram. “But you just have to stick to your routine, do what you did the day you came to the rink, and just make sure you’re ready to play your best tonight.”
Lightning will strive to become the second team in NHL history to manage less than 3-1 in a Cup final with a top score of 7. Tampa Bay came back from falling behind 3-2 in the first a round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and a 2-0 hole against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference final.
[RELATED: Stanley Cup Final coverage | Stanley Cup Final schedule]
Now Lightning need three straight wins against Avalanche to become the first team to win the Stanley Cup in three straight seasons since the New York Islanders won four straight championships from 1980-83.
“You just don’t know how many opportunities, how many kicks you’ll get,” said Lightning striker Alex Killarn. “I think it’s easier for us to think that you will come back every year just because of how things are going. This is simply not the reality. There are a lot of guys in the room who haven’t won cups, guys who have won, you’ve been in a lot of similar situations in the past, so there are a lot of things and you just want to make sure you make the most of those situations. “
Here are 3 keys to Game 5:
1. Be smart in the beginning
Colorado started quickly in winning each of the first two games of the series at home, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first 9:23 of Game 1 and 3-0 with 13:52 of the first period in Game 2. With a chance to win The Stanley Cup in front of their fans, Avalanche will try to jump on Lightning again early, but they will also have to control their emotions and keep their focus, no matter how the start goes.
“Anytime – a playoff game, a regular season game – you want to get off to a good start,” said the Avalanche striker JT Compher. “We did it at home, but it will take 60 minutes. We talked about it. The most difficult thing to win is to close a team, especially one. So we know whether the beginning goes our way or not in the first five, 10 minutes, it will be a 60-minute effort, maybe even more. We will be ready to play our way for as long as necessary. “
Conversely, Lightning will have to do a better job of withstanding the early Avalanche storm than in the first two games.
2. Status of Point, Chernak, Cireli, Burakovski
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said striker Andre Burakowski, who has not played since being hit in the arm with the puck in the second period of Game 2, is “an opportunity tonight”. Things are less clear about the striking Lightning with strikers Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli and defender Erik Cernak.
Point returned to play the first two games of the Cup final after missing 10 games with a lower body injury but failing to play the last two games. Chernak left Game 4 in the second period after blocking Nathan McKinnon’s kick from his leg. Cirelli is back to finish Game 4 after appearing to have injured his hand in the second period, but his status is unclear for Game 5.
“It’s definitely a decision during the game with a few of our boys,” said Lightning coach John Cooper. However, “Cernie” feels better. I’m pretty sure he’ll play tonight. “
3. Balance of forces
Avalanche dominated the special teams in the Cup final. Colorado is 6 to 13 (46.2 percent) in strength and has killed 13 of Tampa Bay’s 14 (92.9 percent) games.
Failing to stop Avalanche’s power until it transforms on its own is a difficult combination to overcome Lightning in the series.
“We would like to score a goal in the power game. We would like to be more productive, “Killorn said. “But more importantly, we just have to keep them out of the power game. They obviously had a great power game and it seems that the way they go, the puck bounces off the skates and that’s what a good power game does. It is placed in a good chance and a good opportunity to score. So I think we’re keeping them out of the power play, and even if we did, we’ve tightened up and done a little better job of getting the puck out of the zone. “
Quickly designed composition
Andrew Palace – Stephen Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Heigl – Anthony Sirelli – Alex Killarn
Ross Colton – Braden Point – Nicholas Paul
Pat Maroon – Pierre-Edward Belmare – Corey Perry
Victor Hedman – Ian Ruth
Ryan McDonagh – Eric Chernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Zak Bogosyan
Andrey Vasilevski
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Cal Foot, Frederick Claeson, Riley Nash
wounded: None
Avalanche forecast composition
Arthur Leconen – Nathan McKinnon – Miko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog – Nazem Kadri – Valery Nichushkin
Alex Newhook – JT Comper – Logan O’Connor
Darren Helm – Andrew Coliano – Nico Storm
Devon Tows – Cale McCarthy
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson
Bowen Bayram – Eric Johnson
Darcy Kumper
Pavel Frankuz
Scratched: Justus Anunnen, Ryan Murray, Curtis McDermid, Jacob MacDonald, Jason Megna, Nicholas Obe-Kubel
wounded: Samuel Girard (sternum), Andre Burakowski (arm)
Status report
Lighting held an optional morning skate. … If Burakowski can play, Storm or O’Connor will probably be scratched.
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