The Tampa Bay Lightning insisted the Colorado Avalanche had yet to see their best hockey in this Stanley Cup Final. And he didn’t lie.
Guided by the brilliance of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning exploded with four goals in the second period to dominate the Avalanche 6-2, Monday night, in Game 3.
Vasilevskiy, who stopped 37 pucks in the game, made a few key saves in the first period and then held the fort as Nicholas Paul, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry hit the mark in the second period.
The Lightning were able to close the books in the third period to reduce the Avalanche’s lead to 2-1 in this final. The fourth duel will take place Wednesday night, again in Tampa.
Crushed 7-0 in the second game, the Lightning players showed much more intensity and much more aggressiveness in the first minutes. Anthony Cirelli and Ondrej Palat scored to give a lead that Jon Cooper’s men did not let go.
Maroon, Stamkos and Palat also added assists, while Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov both set up two Lightning goals.
Gabriel Landeskog scored both goals for the Avalanche, each time assisted by Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. For the first time in quite a while this postseason, Colorado’s squad couldn’t fully use their speed to do damage.
Darcy Kuemper started the game for the Avalanche and was dismissed after allowing five goals on 22 shots. In relief, Francouz saved nine of the 10 shots he faced.
The Lightning gets going
The Lightning had a better start to the game than Saturday, but it was still the Avalanche who moved the ropes first. Or at least, that’s what she believed.
Nathan MacKinnon accepted a pass from Bowen Byram and passed the disc on the other side to Valeri Nichushkin. The Russian unleashed a twirling shot that thwarted Vasilevskiy. Before the puck drop, Cooper challenged the call and won, as Byram grabbed the puck just off the blue line by a hair’s breadth.
The Avalanche were able to recover on the power play a few minutes later, through their captain. Positioned in the semi-circle after being pushed by Erik Cernak, Landeskog grabbed a loose puck to open the scoring.
The home team didn’t panic, however, and they threaded the needle twice in the space of one minute and 51 seconds.
Cirelli first accepted a pass from Maroon following risky pressure from Makar and he managed to slip the disc through Kuemper’s pads despite a fine cover from Devon Toews. Toews then allowed the Lightning to restart the offense due to a bad pass and the lack of defensive communication served the cause of Palat, who lodged the puck in the top corner.
The crowd was able to celebrate quickly at the start of the second period. Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson made a turnover in his territory and Ross Colton spotted Paul in the slot. The imposing striker unleashed a shot that slipped between the body and Kuemper’s right arm.
Just over three minutes after Paul’s goal, the Lightning’s indiscipline opened the door for the visitors. While Colton was installed in the penalty box, Landeskog deceived the vigilance of Vasilevskiy thanks to a violent shot from the wrists.
Stamkos, the Lightning captain, however, returned the courtesy to his vis-à-vis just three minutes later. Forgotten in the slot, Stamkos made a U-turn and lifted the puck into the top of the net to the left of Kuemper.
The Florida squad continued their dominance by adding two goals before the end of the engagement, and they came off the bat of two veterans. Coming out of the penalty box, Maroon showed some finesse and he rolled the puck over Kuemper’s blogger and behind the red line. On a power play, Perry then pushed a free drive into the back of the net to welcome Francouz.