Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Champions. Avalanche, 6th Game, Fla., Went into the Amali Arena in Tampa and won 2-1 – and the biggest hardware.
Colorado Tampa Bay finished the run-to-back run of the Stanley Cups and captured its third championship in its ownership history.
Lightning took a 1-0 lead with a goal from captain Steven Stamkos. However, the avalanche captured the game from there. Colorado dominated the second period and were rewarded with goals from Nathan McKinnon and Arthuri Legonen. Avs entered the locker room 2-1 and was struck by lightning from there.
Colorado completely occupied Tampa Bay during the third period. Lightning did not get a shot on Darcy Cumber until he was in control for about 10 minutes. Not satisfied with sitting quietly and waiting for the clock to drop, Avs was aggressive for the last 20 minutes, which made life incredibly difficult for Lightning. Even in the empty net situation, Tampa Bay failed to get quality shots at the Darcy Kuember.
After ending down in the NHL rankings five years ago, Avalanche lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001, and they did it against one of the best teams of the payroll era.
Complete avalanche reconstruction
During the 2016-17 season, the avalanche went 22-56-4, which was the worst mark in the NHL. Five years later, Tampa Bay Lightning strikes and Amali slides into the Stanley Cup around the stadium.
General Manager Joe Zakik had a plan for this avalanche team and he fully implemented it. From that worst year of 2016-17, only Colorado has risen, starting with the draft that summer. Avs actually finished 4th overall in the draft lottery, but it won because the team created the Gale McCarthy, who won the Con Smith Trophy the most valuable player of the post-season. That jump started Colorado’s restructuring, and ownership never looked back from there. This Stanley Cup has been in preparation for avalanches for many years, and they are not even close yet.
Nathan McKinnon finished doing it
The first five games of this Stanley Cup final were frustrating for McKinnon. When it came to Game 6, he had only one goal in 28 shots, but he kept chipping in and making the biggest difference to the avalanche in their series win.
McKinnon has been the heart and soul of Avalanche, and he has grown into the top-five player in the league. Despite his bad luck in this Stanley Cup final, McKinnon kept his balance and refused to give up. In Game 6, McKinnon scored the equalizer and assisted Legonon’s winning goal. Given how much McKinnon meant by avalanche, it was fitting that he was the one who gave in to this game.
The end of an interesting run in Tampa
Tampa Bay Lightning fell two wins less to win three straight Stanley Cups, which has only been done five times in NHL history. While this loss is crushing, Lightning still manages to be one of the most impressive runs of the payroll era.
Lightning has won 11 straight playoff series, which is a huge achievement in recent years when you consider the restrictions on payroll, free agency, extension draft and epidemic for teams. Everyone from General Manager Julien BriseBois to Head Coach John Cooper deserves all the praise in the world for delivering so consistently over a period of three years. I doubt Tampa Bay will go anywhere soon, otherwise it might be wrong to think so. The team is still full of talent, but we can still appreciate its magnificence in each of the last three post-seasons.
