The Colorado Avalanche stretched their lead to 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final following a resounding 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in Denver.
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.
The third game of the final will take place Monday in Tampa.
Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin both moved the ropes twice to lead the Avalanche offense, which gave their rival a big boost 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 made himself an accomplice of three nets of his own. Alex Newhook and Andrew Cogliano were involved in two Avalanche goals. Darcy Kuemper needed just 16 saves to record his first playoff shutout.
Although he allowed 7 goals on 30 shots, Andrei Vasilevskiy saved the furniture on several occasions for the Lightning. The goalkeeper faced several excess numbers and several breakaways, but could not do everything alone.
Total 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 goalie.
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 attacking pressure from McDonagh to double their lead. Andrew Cogliano started an overdrive by pushing the disc towards 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 threading the needle himself. The hero of the first game of the final slipped the puck to Rantanen, before scoring on the Finn’s throwback.
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, 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 gave the Lightning a hard time in the first period and that’s how Jared Bednar’s men were able to take control 5-0. 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 penalty kill unit got involved early in the final third. Makar grabbed the puck in his territory and launched a two-on-one climb, which 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.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
