Avalanche end 26 year drought
The 2022 Stanley Cup Champions
Sunday night was a game six showdown between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche in Tampa Bay. The Avalanche were unable to close out the series on home ice during game five, so they were looking to close it out in game six to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup since 1996. They were up 3-2 in the series before hand, so they were definitely looking to get the job done. Let’s get into the game action shall we.
Steven Stamkos opens up the scoring for the Lighting just three minutes into the first period (at 3:48), assisted by Ondrej Palat. They led the entire first period 1-0 giving them hope in the game while having their home fans supporting them along the way. Overall both goaltenders were looking pretty sharp. Andre Vasileskiy stopping all eight of Colorado’s shots throughout the period while Darcy Kuemper stopped nine-of-ten shots by the Lightning.
The second period gets on the way and Nathan MacKinnon scores a minute into the period (at 1:54) tying the game up at one a piece that was assisted by Bowen Byram and Gabriel Landeskog. The Avalanche then strike again giving them a 2-1 lead in the second period. The Avalanche goal scored by Artturi Lehkonen (at 12:28) assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson. The Avalanche taking a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the end of the second period was huge for them. They have to play extremely defensively to close out the Lightning. The Avalanche had 13 shots on goal while the Lightning had nine.
This was it, the big third period. Will the Avalanche be able to shut down the Lightning to win the cup or will the Lightning strike back to tie up the game? Well it was a well fought out third period. One team defending their lead while the other trying to climb out of a whole being down one in both the series and the game. The Lightning certainly didn’t want to let their fans down and wanted to go back to Colorado at a chance of a three peat, but the Avalanche had other ideas. They fought hard throughout the entire period, fighting off the Lightning at every opportunity they created. Darcy Kuemper was locked in and had stopped the four shots that the Lightning had on goal as the Avalanche had nine more shots on goal trying to expand their lead to take off some pressure. Total shots on goal were 30 to 23 in favor of the Avalanche. Final seconds remained in the period and the Avalanche were able to dump the puck from their end with less than 10 seconds remaining and became the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions when the horn sounded with a final score of 2-1. They certainly did not want to go back to Colorado for a game seven. In my opinion I most definitely think that the Avalanche deserved it and of course wanted to stop Tampa from having a three peat. Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe trophy which represents the finals MVP of the playoffs, which I thought was well deserved. When the team got together for their group photo with the cup, one player came into the photo last minute with the cup and actually dented the cup as we was putting it down with the rest of the team.
The Cup is first presented to the team captain, which in this case is Gabriel Landeskog and then he decides who he hands it off to first. Overall it was a great run by the Avalanche, well deserved Stanley Cup. I’m glad they won it. It was also a great playoffs despite my Penguins loosing in game seven to the Rangers, loosing a 3-1 lead in their series. Better luck next year.
