(Denver) As one of the good hockey clichés has it, whether it’s by one goal or by seven goals, a loss is still a loss. The Tampa Bay Lightning will hope, however, that Saturday night’s match will not leave a mark.
Posted at 11:05 p.m.
The Colorado Avalanche outplayed the Lightning from start to finish and posted a crushing 7-0 win in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Avalanche leave the electrifying atmosphere at the Ball Arena with a 2-0 lead in the final. She had triumphed in overtime in the first match.
For the Lightning, it’s now about repeating what they accomplished in the previous round, when they posted four straight wins after coming home 2-0 down against the New York Rangers.
Game 3 of the final will take place at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Monday night.
Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin both moved the ropes twice to lead the Avalanche’s offense, which gave their rival their hands full from the first outings of the evening. Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist while Darren Helm and Josh Manson added a goal each.
Mikko Rantanen was instrumental in three goals for his team while Alex Newhook and Andrew Cogliano both contributed to two goals for the Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper needed just 17 saves to record his first playoff shutout.
Although he allowed seven goals on 30 shots, Andrei Vasilevskiy saved the furniture on several occasions for the Lightning. The Russian goalkeeper faced several excess numbers and several breakaways, but he couldn’t do it all alone.
Complete dominance
The Avalanche got off to a spectacular start and stormed Vasilevskiy’s net. This intensity forced Ryan McDonagh to take a costly roughing penalty.
The Colorado troops quietly weaved their web on the power play and Burakovsky made a lively pass into the slot. Well installed, Nichushkin redirected the puck behind the Lightning goalkeeper.
The Avalanche’s speed and pressure got their opponents in trouble a few minutes later. Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog buzzed close to the net and the Swede’s shot was deflected out of the playing area by Erik Cernak. Moments later, Rantanen served Jan Rutta a cup of coffee, but his backhand shot hit Vasilevskiy’s left shoulder.
It was only a postponement for the home side, who took advantage of poor offensive pressure from McDonagh to double their lead. Andrew Cogliano started an overplay by pushing the disc to Manson and the defender deceived the vigilance of Vasilevskiy thanks to a shot from the wrists under the blocker.
Things did not improve for the visitors, who saw Burakovsky thread the needle at 13:52. The hero of the opener of the final slipped the puck past Rantanen before scoring on the Finn’s return shot.
The Avalanche’s dominance continued into the second period and the crowd favorites added two goals to the scoreboard.
After grabbing a loose puck behind the net, Lightning forward Ondrej Palat gave the object to Rantanen. The latter quickly spotted Nichushkin in the middle of the circles and the Russian moved the ropes for a second time in the match.
The Avalanche’s counterattacks had given the Lightning a hard time in the first period and that’s how Jared Bednar’s men were able to take a 5-0 lead. Logan O’Connor blocked a pass from Ross Colton and Helm used his speed to get into the enemy zone. His sharp shot surprised Vasilevskiy over the mitt.
Even the Avalanche’s shorthanded unit got involved, from the third minute of the last third. Makar grabbed the disc in his territory and he created a two-on-one climb that he himself finished with a powerful shot under Vasilevskiy’s blocker.
The power play put the finishing touches to a virtually flawless performance by the Avalanche when Makar found the back of the net on a nice three-way rally.